Sunday Afternoon's
by lemon-sprinkles
Summary: When Cloud is forced to move away because of his mothers job, he cant help feel as though fate its self seperated him from the only town he had ever called home. But Fate has a way of evening things out, and fate grows a name. Zack. ZxC
1. Chapter 1

Warnings: Language, sexual situations, M/M (Yaoi) If any of that turns out off, please walk away...now!

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII, and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney. Sadly, they do not belong to me. If it did you can bet Cloud would be in a dress a lot more often.

Authors Note: Oh my! Finally, it's being posted! This is all very exciting! I started this fanfiction way back in March, so thats about six months ago. I wanted to actually write the entire story and then post it all up, with the chapters coming out about a week and a half apart. The good news about all of this is that it's DONE, meaning I won't stop halfway through the story and just leave it...never to be finished. So I hope you all enjoy it! Lets get it on!

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**Sunday Afternoon's**

::Prologue::

It was a Sunday afternoon.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Cloud was grumpy.

His mom had gotten a new job which required her to move from the comfortable suburban Twilight Town, to the larger and busier Radiant Garden. Her moving also meant that Cloud would be moving too.

He didn't think it would have been as bad to move when he was younger, when he didn't really have any friends and had no attachments, but his mother got the job a few weeks before his last year of school started. He had promised himself that this year would be different. He would actually HAVE friends to see every day, and have a few classes he didn't mind going to.

But now that he was moving, it meant making new friends, which he wasn't very good at. Vincent was his only constant friend, and they tended to shy away from any other human contact. But when they had both decided to change High School, it was difficult to stay the 'loners'.

The new high school meant new people who didn't understand the concept that Cloud and Vincent, for the most part, liked to be alone. Cloud ended up making new friends, and these new friends caused him to get attached.

But now Cloud had to move. And he was not happy.

" It will be fine, your going to like the new place! It's much bigger then our old house, and we actually have a backyard!" Cloud's mother smiled and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. " And I'm sure you will make new friends." she added hastily.

" Yeah Cloud, cheer up!" Roxas added in from behind Cloud.

Cloud's younger brother, Roxas. How could he forget.

Roxas was actually excited about the move. He was moving away from some of his best friends, Hayner, Pence, and Olette, but he didn't seem to mind. He was sure they would still keep in contact and was actually excited to get away from Twilight Town.

Roxas wanted to become a singer, and thought moving out of Twilight Town into a bigger city would give him a better chance. Cloud thought Roxas had an amazing voice, if only the kid could get over his fear of people. Roxas was just as shy as Cloud, but seemed to be a little more optimistic. Cloud was convinced Roxas was adopted.

The car turned around a corner and entered a quite, sunny neighborhood.

" Holy...shit" Cloud whispered looking at all the homes.

" Isn't it perfect?" His mother asked.

Perfect was an understatement. The houses were freshly painted, the lawns all mowed, and the gardens in full bloom, and everything looked...the same.

Cloud was used to the kind of neighborhood with old houses, ones with character, and you would always tell what kind of person lived in those houses. Here it all looked the same and somewhat boring. It reminded him of the movie The Stepford Wives.

He shivered a bit.

They rounded another corner and drove into the driveway of a large house. " Beautiful isn't it?" His mother put the car into park and took the keys out of the car. She just sat there a moment admiring the house. It was larger then what the family was used to. The house was green with white trim and had a study oak door. It looked like something out of a catalogue.

" What do you think?" Cloud tore his eyes away from the house and looked at his mom. She was brimming with pride and had a childlike glow in her eyes. He didn't want to tell her that he hated it, and didn't want to ruin the move more then he already had. So he opted to just there and smiled.

Roxas jumped out of the car and wandered to the back of the car to open the hatch, while their mother stepped out and headed towards the house. Cloud sighed heavily and opened the door. Even the sun seemed brighter and cheerier here. He looked over at his neighbor's house and saw two kids sitting on the porch. One had fiery red hair that stuck up all over the place. He was lying down on the wooden floor, his feet stretched out on the steps. The other one was playing cats cradle with a piece of string, his dirty blond hair catching the sunlight making it appear brighter then it actually was.

Cloud could already feel the excitement this place had to offer.


	2. Chapter 2

Warnings: Language, Sexual situations, Yaoi (M/M)

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney, not me. I am simply borrowing there pretty boys for a little while.

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Cloud lay on the lawn letting the sun soak in. The movers had arrived shortly after them and had started to unload the boxes. Cloud thought it best to stay out of the way, and to catch up on some of the sleep he had lost over the past few days.

His short nap was interrupted when a shadow fell over him. Cloud cracked an eye open and saw a younger boy with the biggest aqua eyes he had ever seen, and an even bigger grin.

"Hey there! I'm Demyx!" the boy said, thrusting his hand down towards Cloud.

Now that Cloud had opened both eyes, he noticed that it was the same boy who was playing cats cradle on the porch. The one with the red hair was standing a little ways away watching the movers deal with a particularly heavy and awkward box, with an amused look on his face.

Cloud tried to crack a smile, but ended up looking only slightly less annoyed. He stood up, brushing off a few stray pieces of grass before extending his hand as well.

"Hi...I'm Cloud" he said taking Demyx's hand and shaking it.

"Welcome to the neighborhood!" Demyx said in a sing song voice. He turned around quickly and grabbed the red head by the hand, pulling him closer to Cloud.

"This here is Axel!"

Axel smirked and gave Cloud a small wave.

Cloud noticed Axel had small tattoos under his eyes. Were they suppose to be tears? Oh dear god, did Cloud have to deal with even more emotional people? Roxas and Vincent were enough for him.

"I know the neighborhood looks a little boring, but once you get into town it's a lot more exciting!" Demyx said still smiling.

Cloud was just about to say something when Demyx let out the loudest most terrifying squeal Cloud had ever heard. It even beat out the sounds of joy Yuffie would make at times.

Cloud closed his eyes until the noise stopped, and opened them just in time to see Demyx bounding down the walkway towards Roxas; Who looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

Axel laughed slightly and looked back at Cloud.

"Demyx gets pretty excited sometimes and loves to meet new people. He's kinda like a puppy, only he is potty trained..."

Cloud snorted in reply and watched as Demyx waved enthusiastically at Roxas, who was mere inches from Demyx's face. Oh yes, Roxas was going to like this guy.

"YO! Are making new friends?"

Cloud and Axel turned to see a lanky teen walking up the way, his red hair almost as bright as Axel's and the goggles atop his head were shining in the sunlight.

"It's called being polite and courteous, both of which, are qualities you lack." Axel responded with raised eyebrow and a sticking out of the tongue.

These two definitely had to be brothers Cloud thought to himself.

As the other teen grew closer Cloud noticed that he too has tattoos on his face. Was it some weird tradition in the family? Was it some way to signify they had come of age? Why the hell would someone tattoo their face?

"-hey, are you even listening to me?"

Cloud blinked a few times before he noticed the teen had reached him and had been talking to him for quite some time.

"I said the name's Reno, and it looks like we're neighbor's!" He winked and jammed a toothpick in his mouth.

"Oh hey, I'm Cloud." He nodded once and looked over quickly to see Demyx was now trying to play with Roxas's hair.

He watched with mild amusement, only half listening to the conversation going on between Axel and Reno.

"Where were you?" Axel asked poking Reno on the shoulder. "Demyx and I were waiting for a ride downtown."

"Pfft, go walk Downtown! I went over to Zack's. Hadn't seen him for a while, you know how things are."

Axel simply nodded and smiled. "Hope he's doing good."

Suddenly Demyx pulled Roxas into a hug, and all that could be seen was a flailing of limbs and some muffled yells.

"Aw crap. DEMYX, LET HIM GO!" Axel yelled, storming down the walkway to hopefully go free Roxas from the impromptu cuddle fest.

Reno walked up to stand beside Cloud and watched as Axel was dragged into said cuddle fest.

"You learn to forget about personal space when Demyx is around." Reno said laughing slightly. "Yo, it's a good thing you met me--_the_ coolest guy around town. Hanging out with me means you won't have to worry about being left out, or being alone!" He poked his thumb at his chest and winked.

This guy was really cocky, Cloud thought.

"Yeah...never have to be alone...sounds great" Cloud rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Tomorrow night me and a few friends are going to go to Peter's Drive Thru. Best place around town, the burgers are heaven and the ice cream is to die for! You should totally come along" Reno threw his arm around Clouds shoulder and wandered down towards the pile of people on the walkway. Demyx seemed to have won this battle.

"I won't take no for an answer! Besides, I want you to meet my friends." Reno added.

Cloud shrugged off Reno's arm and nodded.

"As long as you don't try to hug me..." He said, helping Roxas up out of the pile.

XX

"So, what do you guy's think of the place?" Their mom asked while grabbing another piece of pizza.

Cloud shrugged and poked at his food.

"It's alright I guess..." He kept looking down at his food. Should he tell his mom that he had maybe, already, sorta, kinda made a friend? If he did he had a feeling she would say something like 'I told you so' or 'My baby is making new friends already!' and start gushing.

"I met a guy who seems kinda cool...he invited me to go to a drive thru, which is apparently amazing...could be fun."

His mom just smiled and winked. Nothing more, just a smile. Great that was worse then if she had actually said anything.

"What do you think Roxas?" She asked turning her attention to her younger, quieter son.

"Um...Mom...I don't think it's safe here..." He looked up at her with a tight jaw and wide eyes. He had a vice like grip on his fork which had repeatedly stabbed a piece of his lettuce.

"Why would you say that? This neighborhood is one of the safest communities you could ever live in!"

"He got hugged today and now he thinks everyone will try and kill him." Cloud stated simply.

"I don't think they'll kill me! I just think that I might get mugged...or WORSE! RAPED!" His eyes shot out of his head and he looked like he was ready to scream.

Roxas had always been a Drama Queen.

"If someone hugs you, it doesn't mean there going to rape you honey" She gave him a small smile that soon turned into a big grin. Which in turn became smothered laughter.

"What's so funny? This isn't a laughing matter!" Roxas took a bite from his

pizza and glared at the plate like it had just threatened to rape him as well.

XX

"Trust me, the food is awesome. Way better then any McDonald's you have ever been to!" Reno said grabbing the keys out of his pocket and walking down Cloud's walkway. Motioning for Cloud to follow, Reno continued to ramble. "Plus you get to meet some more people, more people being my friends! Hopefully soon to be your's as well!"

He walked up to a small red Honda and unlocked the doors. Cloud opened his door and looked inside the car.

Well surprise surprise, the car was actually really clean. He expected Reno to be the kind of guy who would throw trash in the back and vacuum the car every three millennia.

"Yup...she's my pride and joy. Her names Jenny!"

"Like the shrimp boat..." Cloud muttered.

"Shrimp boat? What the hell man? This isn't a shrimp boat!"

Cloud looked at Reno over the top of the car and smiled.

"I know it's not a shrimp boat, but Forrest Gump named his boat Jenny...haven't you ever seen Forrest Gump?"

Apparently not, Cloud decided, seeing Reno's confused expression.

"Never mind..." Cloud said getting into the car. " So how far away is this place?" He asked as Reno got in as well and buckled himself in.

"Oh only a ten minute drive, but after we get our food, and pick up some people I can take you on a small tour of the city. Show you that there's more to this place then just identical homes and overly cheerful neighbor's."

Cloud just nodded and buckled in as well. He was just getting comfortable, when Reno turned the car on.

Apparently Reno liked to have his music on loud, incredibly loud. When the car started, some unintelligible sound came from the speakers. Cloud would have jumped a foot out of his seat if it wasn't for the seatbelt strapping him in, and successfully caught himself from screaming like a little girl. It wouldn't have really mattered if he had screamed anyway, because it would have fit right in with the music.

"Oops, sorry about that!" Reno said turning the stereo down and grinning. "Got a nice set of speakers eh?" He winked at Cloud and started the car.

"Okay, first we are going to go pick up my friend Sephiroth. He usually always has a look on his face that makes you think that you just insulted his mother, and he's going to kill you. But he's actually a pretty cool guy, if not a little intimidating. Zack's the other one we are picking up. He's a great guy, always laughing and hugging and..." Reno looked over at Cloud and laughed " everything you seem to dislike! Don't worry, he's better with personal space then Demyx"

They sat in silence for a bit while Reno tapped his fingers on his steering wheel to the beat of one of the songs. They turned a few corners and drove up to a medium sized house, one that actually looked like it had some definition to it.

"Wait here." Reno said while stepping out of the car and heading up the walkway.

Cloud watched as Reno knocked, and a tall man opened the door. His long silver hair caught whatever light was left in the sky and made it glow. Reno started talk in a very animated manner, and soon the man nodded and stepped outside following Reno.

Reno hopped back over to the car and sat down while the other man opened one of the back doors and got in.

" Sephiroth, this is Cloud, Cloud this is Sephiroth!"

Cloud turned around and took the hand Sephiroth held out. Reno wasn't wrong when he said Sephiroth was intimidating.

" Nice to meet you." Sephiroth said and let go of Clouds hand.

Cloud just nodded and smiled slightly.

" NOW! OFF WE GO, INTO THE WILD BLUE YONDER!" Reno suddenly burst out and shot the car forward. Cloud looked back at Sephiroth, who seemed only slightly annoyed. He was probably used to this by now.

The drive to the next house wasn't as long, and consisted of Reno going on about this new kind of helicopter the city police were getting. It seemed that Reno was a helicopter fiend. Cloud really didn't want to see him behind the controls of a helicopter if his driving skills were anything to go by.

The next stop was at a small, inviting looking home. This must be Zack's house Cloud thought.

Reno went to the door and rang the bell. He waited for a few moments before the door was ripped open and he was tackled to the ground in a headlock. The two of them fought for a few minutes before they both let go and laughed.

Together they walked down the walkway pushing at each other until they reached the car. They both climbed in and Cloud turned around.

His eyes were immediately drawn to Zack's eyes and Cloud couldn't help but stare. They were a silvery purple colour unlike anything he had ever seen. Cloud was thrown back into reality when Reno nudged him in the arm.

"And this is Zack!" Reno said smiling.

Zack grinned back at Cloud and waved.

"Hey! Nice to meet you...Cloud!" He said, trying to remember his name.

Cloud just waved back slightly and turned his head back to the front of the car.

A faint red colour crept across Cloud's face thinking about how he stared. Normal people didn't just gawk at strangers, and normal guys didn't stare at other guy's eyes, especially if you just met them. Smooth Cloud, real smooth.

They drove to the drive thru, and Cloud had to admit the burgers were really good. Most of the car ride was spent driving past a few parks, some malls, and some random landmarks. Reno and Zack spewed forth random commentary while Sephiroth occasionally added in historical facts.

The last place they drove to, Reno actually stopped the car and everyone got out. Cloud looked around and saw a small stone wall and an open field behind them. He followed everyone as they headed over to the wall and looked out. After the wall the ground experienced a steep decline, but after awhile it flattened out. In the middle of the valley was an old construction site with a half built tower.

" It was going to be a new hospital, but during construction a few people died and they just never picked it up again. They left it as it was for some odd reason. I think it's just to scare the shit out of all of us." Zack said walking over to Cloud and looking over at the old construction site.

" Certainly is creepy...how did they die... I mean the people at the site?" Cloud asked still looking at the site.

" One of the walls fell down. It was doomed from the start really. Not enough funding and a crap company was hired to build it. We come here a lot, mostly because no one else does. There all chicken but us three ,and now four, are willing to brave the ghosts to come here." Zack said turning around and leaning up against the wall.

Cloud did the ,same and looked over at Zack. With it being so dark he couldn't really see much but he could still see Zack's eyes. Cloud's tongue stuck in the back of his throat and he started to blush again.

He was in trouble.

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Authors NoteYay! The first official chapter has been posted, and I hope you guys enjoyed it! Like I said, I will post a new chapter every Tuesday so keep a look out! Just a few things I wanted to comment on, one being the rest of the pairings in this here fanfiction. Although they aren't major pairing and you won't hear about them a lot there is Axel/Demyx and Roxas/Namine. I hope those pairings don't stop you from reading the fanfiction! Secondly, Peters Drive Thru is a real place in my city, and the food there is killer! If you are ever in Calgary, go there. I demand you eat one of there burgers and get a banana split! And last, but defiantly not least, thank you to all my reviewers and for all the people watching this fanfiction, I really appreciate it! 


	3. Chapter 3

Warnings: Language, Sexual situations, Yaoi (M/M)

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney, not me... it makes me sad.

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" So you have been gone a week and haven't called me once! I'm surprised!" Tifa laughed over the phone.

" Yah, sorry about that, things have been kinda crazy. Registering for school, unpacking, dealing with some...interesting people." Cloud said while digging through one of the many boxes he still hadn't unpacked.

" Interesting people? As in new friends?" She asked. Cloud could practically hear her raising her eyebrows.

" Maybe..." he mumbled. " Hey how are Yuffie and Vincent?" He asked quickly, trying to change the subject.

" They're good, but don't try to change the subject! So you already have new friends! That's awesome, seeing how you kept complaining that you were never going to make any friends and how this was all so unfair!"

When she started giggling Cloud was tempted to throw the phone against the wall.

" Yah well...they're pretty cool guys I guess."

" What are their names?"

" Um well there's Reno, he's my next door neighbor. He's a little odd, very full of himself and in love with his car. Then there's Sephiroth...he's quiet, and stays out of your personal space which is nice. He mostly sits there and roles his eyes, so we get along pretty well. And then we have Zack. He's a nice guy, likes to tell jokes and always seems to be smiling...he's pretty cool."

No way in hell was Cloud going to mention the fact that every time he even so much as looked at Zack he would forget how to use his brain. Tifa wasn't the best person to talk to that about. She would give him advice and gush over how cute it was. She acted like a sister to Cloud, which was partly why they decided to break off their half year relationship.

" Huh, well I'm glad you met some people! Excited for school?" In the background he could hear her shifting around on her bed.

" No not really, it's school." Cloud turned around when he heard his door opening. Roxas wandered in and sat down on Cloud's bed. He started to distractedly kick his feet and seemed to be absentmindedly humming something.

" Uh, look I gotta go, I'll call you later...okay?" Cloud said, standing up and stretching.

" Sure! How about I call you, I know how forgetful you can be about that." And with that she hung up.

Cloud just stared at the phone and shrugged.

" What's up?" Cloud asked while walking over to his bedside table to put something away. " Didn't Axel and Demyx come over to help you unpack?"

" Yah they did and still are... I think. They found my old Lego sets and started to build castles, they wanted to see who could build the best one. I don't know, it got a little crazy after Axel tried to melt a piece of Lego so it would fit."

" So...you just left the pyro in your room?" Cloud asked stopping what he was doing. " Hey...is that a hair clip in your hair?"

Roxas quickly grabbed the butterfly clip and yanked it off.

" Demyx really likes my hair..."

* * *

It was the last day of summer vacation and Reno had convinced Cloud to come with him to the amusement park. Reno had decided to make a big day of it and invited Zack and Sephiroth while Axel had decided to invite all of his friends.

Now Cloud was sitting in the front of 'Jenny' listening to Reno and Demyx sing 'Bucky Done Gun' at the top of there lungs while Axel tapped his foot to the beat. Poor Roxas was squished in between Axel and Demyx trying to keep his butt from falling asleep.

" So how is everyone else getting there?" Cloud asked over the noise.

" Um, Zack borrowed his parents car so he's picking up a few people, and the others live close enough to take the bus... I think. We are taking Demyx because he lives a few houses down, and seems to live at our house anywa-GET CRACKIN GET GET CRACKIN!" Cloud jumped at Reno's sudden outburst.

" Sorry dude, favorite part of the song yo."

Cloud spent the rest of the surprisingly long car ride listening to everyone sing random songs by Lady Bouncer and other such artists. Roxas even started to sing along.

When they finally got there, the sun was high in the sky and gave off blistering and unrelenting heat.

They parked the car some ways away from the grounds under a small tree in hopes of keeping the car somewhat cool, but it looked like it wouldn't help that much. They wandered down towards the park and noticed a group of people waiting around the entrance.

Cloud recognized Sephiroth and Zack right away, but the other three were new. One of them was bouncing around, his brown hair going up and down, while another one with silver hair much like Sephiroth's, only shorter, was sitting on the sidewalk. Beside Zack stood a girl with long brown hair tried back into a braid. A large smile was plastered on her face as she watched Zack fling his car keys  
in the air and try and catch them behind his back.

As they approached, everyone stopped what they were doing and watched as Zack ran over to greet them.

" Cloudy! Come here I want you to meet someone!" He flung his arm around Cloud's shoulder and steered him towards the young woman.

"Where did Cloudy come from?" Cloud asked under his breath. Zack didn't seem to hear.

" Cloud, I want you to meet Aerith!"

Aerith waved and smiled at Cloud.

" Hi Cloud." She said still smiling. Cloud smiled back and waved.

" Her mom drove her down yesterday to come see me! She moved out to the country a year ago, and we haven't gotten to see each other much, but now that she is in town for a few days I thought she could come with us to the park! I'm really glad she got to meet you Cloud." Zack kept his arm around Cloud and squeezed his shoulder a bit.

Cloud didn't actually notice how close he was to Zack until he felt the squeeze. How long had they been like this? Cloud just stood there trying to keep his heart rate in check when he heard...well he heard nothing.

It seemed Aerith and Zack noticed the lack of noise as well, because Aerith glanced over Zack's shoulder and Zack followed the direction of her gaze.

Standing behind them was a small circle around Roxas and the boy with brown hair who had been bouncing around before.

Cloud approached the circle of people and looked at the brown haired teen, then Roxas, then back to the teen.

" Holy...crap." Reno whispered. That pretty much summed up everyone's thoughts at the moment.

They looked the same. If it wasn't for the different hair colour and style, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Maybe Cloud was right. Maybe Roxas really was adopted.

" Huh...well Roxas this is Sora." Axel spoke up, breaking the silence.

Sora seemed to snap out of it and smiled a big goofy grin.

" Hey Roxas! Nice to meet you!" He shoved his hand out towards Roxas and laughed. " Guess we kinda look the same eh?" Roxas grabbed Sora's hand and shook it a little to enthusiastically.

" Nice to meet you too." He said smiling slightly.

" And this is Riku!" Sora said, flinging his arms towards Riku and making 'jazz hands'.

The silver haired teen laughed and smiled. " Nice to meet you guys!"

" Come on everyone, let's go!" Demyx said hopping from foot to foot looking ready to pee his pants if he didn't get into the park soon.

" How about you little dudes go off and do what you want, and us big guys will do what we want. Will meet up at the cotton candy stand in...three hours?" Reno declared.

" Little dudes..." Axel asked giving Reno a death glare.

" Hey, you wanna run with the big dogs, stop crapping like a puppy." Reno shot back pushing Axel towards the ticket gate.

Cloud watched as Sora and Demyx bounded off towards the gate while Axel, Roxas and Riku wandered behind them with Axel grumbling about puppy poop.

The park was fairly large with rides for all kinds of people. There were the classic ones like the Tea Cups, the Giant Swings, and the Caterpillar, as well as newer ones like the Twin Flip, the Orbiter, and the Drop of Doom.

Cloud was dragged on almost all of them, that is until Zack tried to get him to go on the Roller Coaster.

" I don't do well with Roller Coasters..." Cloud said, eyeing it wearily.

" Awww come on, please?" Zack shot Cloud a look with huge puppy dog eyes and a pouty lip.

" Do you really think the eyes are going to work on him?" Aerith laughed patting Zack's cheek. " I don't feel much like going on it either. Do you mind coming and sitting with me while they go on?" Aerith asked Cloud.

" Um, sure." Cloud didn't want to actually admit that the puppy eyes would work.

" Have fun sitting and being boring then!" Zack said with a wink. He walked over to Sephiroth and Reno and dragged them to the line.

" Lets go sit." Aerith spoke walking towards a bench a few feet from them.

Cloud sat down beside Aerith and let himself relax. The air was cooling down as the sun started to set and he was grateful for that.

" He talks a lot about you," Aerith spoke breaking the comfortable silence surrounding them. " As soon as he met you, he called me up and started talking  
about you."

Cloud looked at Aerith, a small blush creeping up on his cheeks. " Really?"

" Really. You guy's met a week ago right? I think it's sweet you guy's seem to connect so easily." She smiled slightly.

" Oh, um...yah he's a really nice guy." Cloud looked down at his shoes. Did Zack really talk to Aerith about him, did they really connect? Cloud hoped that they did, but that was probably just wishful thinking. But after what Aerith said...

" I think you guy's would be sweet together." Aerith giggled and looked ahead at the roller coaster.

" Wait, what?...together? As in..." Cloud's eyes started to get wide. Did she really say what he thought she said.

" Yup, together. He's a really great guy, and I'm a little jealous. He and I dated for a while but we broke up when I moved to the country. We both knew keeping up a long distance relationship was going to be hard."

" We've only known each other for a week, and he's not that way is he? I mean, he dated you, and I dated a girl and-"

" Calm down, your starting to hyperventilate," Aerith stated putting a hand on his shoulder. " I'm not saying you two will end up dating, just that you two are going to build a special friendship." She smiled again then stood up.

Zack, Reno and Sephiroth were heading back towards them. Zack and Reno both had huge grins on there faces while Sephiroth struggled with taming his now messy hair.

" I'm not sure if that was the best ride..." Sephiroth said while trying to untangle a clump of hair.

" Ill say! You almost choked me to death when your hair got in my mouth!" Reno answered.

" My hair got in...your mouth?" Sephiroth asked, inspecting a few strands. "I think we should leave soon. I need a shower."

* * *

**Authors Note:** Chapter three is up! I might have to change the days I post up the fic, possibly make it Monday or Wednesday. I work every Tuesday so going to school, then to work and then home makes me not want to post up stuff and do some last minute touch ups ( always messes with my chapters ;; ). But which ever day I post it I hope you read it! Next chapter is the start of school! O And thank you to all the people who sent me all those nice reveiws, and to those who are watching this fic! I really appreciate it. Hugs for all! Oh also, if you were curious the song and the artist that they were singing in the car is 'Bucky Done Gun' by M.A.I D 


	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings:** Language, sexual situations, M/M (Yaoi) If any of that turns out off, please walk away

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney. Sadly, they do not belong to me.

* * *

"So tell me again why we aren't taking the car?" Cloud questioned while walking down the street.

"Because bringing and parking a car in the school parking lot is just begging for it to get keyed, especially a fancy beautiful car like Jenny." Reno answered while walking beside Cloud.

It was there first day of school at Applestate Academy and Cloud was a little more then nervous. It didn't help that this was the first time he had to wear a uniform to school. He had always gone to public schools, but with the move came a new Academy close to Cloud's new house.

The uniforms weren't too bad. The jackets were black, as were the pants, while the vest and tie were forest green. Cloud wore his exactly as regulation stated, but had loosened the tie slightly. Meanwhile Reno had barley tucked in his dress shirt, his tie was loose and almost falling off his neck, and his shoes were untied.

Cloud looked behind him to see how Roxas was coming along. It was going to be Roxas's second year at High School, and he was nervous as well. He made sure to shine his shoes, do his tie just right, and even took off the little checkered wristband he wore all the time. Cloud thought he looked like a complete dweeb.

But he didn't even compare to Demyx, who was walking beside Roxas with an...unusual backpack. On his back was a small plush Jigglypuff backpack. It was a flash back in time, when Cloud used to watch Pokemon religiously. He would have been in awe of the backpack back then, but now it just creeped him out.

"Carry my books." Demyx told Axel while almost dropping one.

"Why should I carry your books? I told you that backpack was to small." Axel while poking it.

"I think it's cute! Anyways you should carry my books because thats what good boyfriends do!"

Axel heaved a heavy sigh and grabbed the books out of Demyx's hands.

"What class do you have first?" asked Reno while they turned a corner.

"The schedule says I have math first, and holy crap." Cloud said after he finally looked up to see what they were walking towards.

It was an amazingly beautiful school was the first thing that popped into Cloud's head. It was made of large, weather worn stone and was covered in ivy that crept up the walls of the school, covering almost everything, except for a few windows. Large oak tree's were lined up the long walkway, their strong broad branches loomed over the sidewalk, letting very little light through. There was a large courtyard with a few stone benches, and a fountain. It reminded Cloud a lot of a castle.

"It's a nice place yo," Reno drawled, "But you gotta watch out for the grounds keeper. I know it sounds cliche, but he will cut you up and use you as fertilizer if you do anything to mess up his rose bushes."

They walked towards the courtyard, and Cloud watched all the students run around. It was so odd to see everyone wearing the exact same thing, yet he could already tell what kind of people they were just by looking at how they wore the uniform. Some girls had rolled the tops of the skirts up to their waist, to make the skirt look shorter, while some guys had completely abandoned there ties and unbuttoned the first few buttons of there shirts. Reno looked fairly put together compared to some of the other people.

Cloud looked behind to see Roxas following Axel and Demyx as they trudged off to a group of people, two of whom were Sora and Riku, and a few other people he had never seen before. One had incredibly pink hair, which hurt Cloud's eyes to look at for to long.

" Hey hey hey!" Zack said coming up to Reno and Cloud, his trademark goofy grin plastered on. " Now don't we look smashing in our uniform." He laughed stopping in front of the two and directing his attention to Cloud.

"Oi! What about me?" Reno asked puffing his chest out slightly.

"You look pretty as always." Zack said patting Reno's head in a patronizing way.

Suddenly Reno's eyes got incredibly wide and his mouth curved upwards into a cocky grin as a blond girl walked by. Her skirt was slightly hitched up, but other then that she looked fairly normal.

"HEY ELENA!" Reno screamed across the sidewalk, successfully grabbing the attention of said blond.

She mouthed back a 'what' and stood there looking impatient. Reno then made an incredibly sexual gesture with his hand and his mouth, causing Cloud's eyes to bug out in an alarming way.

"GO SUCK ON A DICK AND CHOKE!" She screamed back, throwing a half empty coffee cup his way. She stormed away while a few passer byes tried to pretend like they hadn't seen nor heard what had just gone on.

"Dude..what the hell?" Zack finally said hitting Reno on the back of the head. " You always make all these sexual comments, yet your still a virgin."

Reno suddenly pounced Zack, causing them to fall down to the ground. Cloud backed away slightly as he watched with mild amusement as Reno tried to muffle Zack from yelling even louder that he was indeed still a virgin.

"Ass..." Reno muttered getting up quickly and dusting off his jacket. "Your not suppose to reveal stuff like that."

"Sorry...just don't be a dick to all the girls okay?" Zack said, still lying on the ground. " Hey Cloud, a hand?" He asked holding his hand upwards.

Cloud walked forward, intending to help him, but only managed to trip on Reno's shoe, and fall down...right on top of Zack.

His head almost collided with Zack's, but he somehow managed to keep it from actually connecting. His eyes had snapped shut in the process but when he opened them, he immediately regretted doing so.

He was staring right into Zack's eyes.

' Fuck.' Cloud thought as he found himself unable to tear his gaze away.

He just stayed there, not daring to move, even though he knew he should have. But the interesting thing was, Zack wasn't making any movement that indicated he was uncomfortable. He just stared right back.

"Hellooo! The bell went you guys!" Reno said, successfully snapping Cloud out of his daze.

"Oh, sorry!" he blurted, jumping upwards trying to get out of the position he was in. "Really sorry." Cloud extended his arm down to Zack so he would actually help him stand up, rather then fall on his face.

"Thanks," Zack said when he was standing " Now it's off to class!" he yelled, now acting like nothing awkward had happened.

"Yah...class." Cloud spoke, pumping his fist into the air, with little enthusiasm.

"Where the hell is Seph?" Zack suddenly asked.

" Off eating babies." Reno replied.

"What?!" Cloud shouted.

Reno just shrugged and continued on his merry way, swaying slightly from side to side, and almost knocking over a few people in the process. Cloud wondered if Reno was constantly drunk, because he sure seemed to act that way.

* * *

" There will be no talking when I am talking, there will be no spitting, there will be no yelling, no food and no drinks in the classroom, and if I catch you cheating you will be given a zero on the test. No questions asked."

Cloud just stared up at the the front of the classroom as his new Social teacher, who went by the name of Mr.Saix, spewed forth random rules that he demanded be followed.

One rule was anyone found sleeping in his class would not be tolerated, which Zack didn't seem to have any problems breaking. His head was resting on the desk beside Cloud, his hands hanging down at his sides, while his eyes kept closing for longer and longer periods of time.

Cloud nudged Zack a few times with his side, hoping to keep him awake enough so he wouldn't have to endure the teachers wrath on the first day of school.

Thankfully the bell rang and Cloud grabbed his bag and poked Zack yet again, who seemed to have fully fallen asleep.

"Huh, whaaaa?" Zack garbled out. " Shit I fell asleep...cool." He slowly got up and grabbed his book, rubbing the side of his face hoping to get rid of the paper creases on it. " Heeey it's lunch!" He said looking at the clock. He grabbed Cloud by the arm and dragged him out of the class.

"Saix is a real hard ass, but he spends most of the class telling you what not to do, rather then teach, so it's pretty cool." Zack said, as he linked arms with Cloud and walked towards what Cloud presumed was the direction of the cafeteria.

As they walked farther through the hallways, Cloud realized they weren't heading towards the cafeteria, rather towards the back exit of the school.

"Trust me, you don't want to go to the cafeteria, it's worse in there then a fifth grade summer camp." Zack told Cloud as he unlinked his arm, pushed open the back doors, and walked out into the warm sun.

He wandered over towards a large tree and plopped down on the ground. Cloud looked around and noticed no one else was around.

"Are Reno and Sephiroth going to show up?" He asked Zack as he walked over and sat down so he was sitting beside Zack.

"Sephiroth unfortunately helps the teachers out and supervises the cafeteria. He commands more respect then most of the teachers here. As for Reno, he's probably catching up with some odd group or another. I would be with him as well, but I thought it would be nice for you and me to just kinda lounge outside," He smiled looking over at Cloud. " I know coming to a new school can be a bitch and a half, and even worse when Reno drags you off to go meet some more people."

"Thanks...thats really considerate of you." Cloud said, letting himself relax.

"So... do you like it here? Do you still want to move back to your old place?" Zack asked, rolling over so he was lying on his stomach.

"I would like to see my other friends again, and frankly the neighborhood I live in kinda creeps me out...but there are reasons for staying..." He glanced over at Zack, and saw him smile slightly.

"And those reasons would be?" Zack asked, looking up at Cloud still smiling.

"Well there is this new school, which I find absolutely beautiful, this place makes my mom happy, I met a few cool guys named Reno and Sephiroth, and...hmmm," He paused to think, watching Zack out of the corner of his eye, who still had a huge grin on. " Oh yah, and there's a Peters Drive Thu!" He said, laughing when he saw Zack's face go from a cocky grin into a scowl.

Before he knew what was happening, Zack had pounced Cloud. Cloud's arms went flying out trying to stabilize himself, as he fell down with a heavy thud.

Zack straddled Cloud's hip, his strong arms on either side of Cloud's head.

"Are you suuure that's the only reason?" He asked, bringing his face closer to Cloud's.

Cloud smiled up at Zack and closed his eyes. " Yup, I'm pretty sure!"

Zack jutted his lip out, and made a pouty face. " Awwww..."

Cloud started to laugh, and pushed Zack off of him. " Well there is one more reason. There is this awesome guy I met, who has one of the nicest smiles, and greatest personalities I have ever had the privilege of knowing."

Zack broke out into a huge grin, his eyes sparkling. Cloud was smiling as well when he noticed something.

"Um Zack...your nose is starting to bleed..."

"Shit!" Zack grabbed at his nose, trying to stop the blood from dripping on him. " Heh, yah I get nosebleeds all the time." His voice was muffled by his hand. He stood up and leaned forward slightly.

Zack started towards the school and Cloud followed, albeit slightly confused.

If it was such a common occurrence, what was with the flash of fear he saw in Zack's eyes?

* * *

**Authors Note:** As you can see, I decided to post a new chapter Monday nights! So yay, you get a new chapter slightly early this week! Anyways, nothing much to say about this chapter, just that next chapter holds something that a lot of you have been waiting for. Well I hope you have been waiting for it, otherwise I have no idea why you are reading this! Thank you to all the people who review, and to all the people who read it! You guys rock my socks! 


	5. Chapter 5

**Warnings:** Language, sexual situations, M/M (Yaoi) If any of that turns out off, please walk away 

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney. Not to me... oh poo.

* * *

" This doesn't make any sense!" Cloud complained, his head dropping down onto his books. 

" Sure it does! Come on, you can do this!" Zack said from across the kitchen table.

It was a Tuesday night and Cloud was cramming for a math final. He had actually been 'studying' all week, but with other homework and a social life, he had only skimmed over the math.

Zack seemed to be a natural at math. Well Zack seemed to be a natural everything, but math was one of his stronger subjects, so he had offered to help Cloud out after school.

It was now eleven o'clock in the evening, and Cloud still didn't understand one of the most important parts of the whole subject.

"Come on, just calm down, relax, and then come back to it." Zack said while reaching across the table and grabbing Cloud's hand.

Cloud stiffened for a moment, and slowly relaxed when Zack started to massage his one hand.

' Great, not only is he holding my hand, he's massaging it. Don't do anything to mess this up.' He thought as Zack started to rub small circles on his palm with his thumb.

" That feels good..." He muttered into the table, his eyes drifting shut. Zack just hummed in acknowledgment and started to massage a little harder. " What time is it?" Cloud asked.

" It's...shit, it's already eleven!" Zack exclaimed. " I told my parents I would be home by ten...oh well."

" You should get home then." Cloud said, regretfully taking his hand back and lifting his head up.

" But you still don't get this last part!" Zack's eyes got a little big, worry etched on his face. " Can't have you going into a test like this without understanding something."

" Don't worry, I think I'm pretty close to getting it. I'll re-read the notes and do some more practice questions. You should get home." Cloud stood quickly, knocking over a few books in the process.

" Crap." He sighed, kneeling down to pick them up. Zack soon followed, helping pick up the remaining loose pieces of paper.

" Thanks." Cloud said looking up from the floor. He suddenly realized how close he was to Zack. So close he could see his eyelashes. His face suddenly flushed and he tried to look away.

To bad Zack had other ideas. He quickly placed one of his hands on Cloud's cheek and turned his face so he was starring back at Zack. He started to slowly stroke Cloud's cheek with his thumb.

' Damn Zack and his thumbs!' Cloud cried.

He felt himself slowly lean in. He was so close, so close he could feel Zack's warm breath on his face...just a few more inches...

" Ooooh, would you look at this?" Roxas drawled, walking into the kitchen towards the fridge. " Don't mind me!" he said, a smirk on his lips.

Cloud jerked back slightly from the interruption, the mood properly ruined.

" Well I should be going now!" Zack grinned, standing up. " Shouldn't you be in bed?" He asked Roxas, giving him a questioning glance.

Roxas gave him a 'look' and walked out of the kitchen, a banana in hand.

" Cute kid, but one hell of an attitude...kinda like someone else I know." Zack grinned staring at Cloud. Cloud glared back slightly. " Well best be off. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He walked past Cloud, ruffling his hair and continued out the door.

" I asked you to stop doing that!" Cloud protested, trying to get his already crazy head of hair under control.

" Aw, but your so cute when you get all huffy!" Zack winked, and took off down the walkway. " Get a good night sleep, and don't worry about the exam!" He called, still walking away.

" Yah yah..." Cloud said, waving slightly and closing the door. As soon as the door was closed Cloud spun around.

" ROXAS!" He bellowed, running up the stairs.

He ripped open Roxas's bedroom door and stormed in.

" What. The. Hell." He stated. " You totally did that on purpose!"

" Yes, because I waited outside the kitchen for a few hours, right until Isaw you leaning in to Zack, and then I was like: Yes my time has come! I must ruin Cloud's romantic life, and steal Zack...for...myself?" Roxas slowly stopped what he was saying, realizing things were getting a little odd.

" You could have, you know, just walked away without saying anything!" Cloud shot back.

" And why would I want to do that? I was hungry, and you were in the kitchen. Not my fault you and Zack like to go at it in a public area." Roxas said, smirk turning into an all to familiar cocky grin.

Cloud's eyes narrowed. " You have been hanging out to much with Axel...I'm not sure I like it. He seems to be a bad influence on you."

" Crap, see now you sound like mom! Go put on her favorite pink apron and cook me something. Ah, better yet, why not call Zack back over, the kitchen seems to put both of you in the mood!"

Cloud let out a barbaric yell and jumped across the room landing on Roxas.

"First I am going to rip out your tongue so you can no longer speak-"

" MOM! Shit that hurts, MOM-"

" - then I am gonna steal all your video games-"

" Ouch! Not fair, if you keep doing that I'm going to-"

"- And after that ill shave off your eyebrows-"

Suddenly heavy footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway and a shadow loomed over the doorway.

Their mother walked in, seeing Cloud trying to push a half eaten banana in Roxas's face, while Roxas hit Cloud multiple times in the head with a pillow.

Both stopped doing what they had been doing, and Cloud looked up, eyes wide. Roxas used Cloud's momentary distraction to kick Cloud off of his bed.

Cloud hit the floor with a heavy thud.

" Ow." He mumbled rubbing his head.

* * *

Mr. Guado was an evil demon robot thing, who had come up from the depths of hell, just to make Cloud's life aggravating, and generally irritating. 

Just ten more minutes and the class would be over, and he could find out what he had gotten on the test he took a few days ago.

After Zack had left, and he managed to get himself out of being grounded because of his fight with Roxas, he stayed up late figuring out the missing piece of the puzzle. By the end of it, he felt he had a strong grasp on the part he didn't understand, and was confident when he wrote the test.

But he wouldn't know how he did until Mr. Guado stopped rambling on about whatever the hell he was talking about, and would give them their exams back.

Cloud spent most of the class fidgeting, and sighing. He just couldn't get comfortable, and he couldn't pay attention. He bobbed his leg up and down, and when he stopped that he would tap his pencil. More then once Sephiroth would shoot him a look that clearly showed his annoyance with the constant fidgeting.

" Now would everyone stay in their seats while I hand back the tests, you may leave when you get yours back." He finally said, walking to his desk and pulling out a stack of papers.

He went in alphabetical order and Cloud thought he was going to burst while he waited for everyone else to get theirs back.

Mr. Guado walked by and calmly placed Cloud's test face down on his desk and continued on his way.

Cloud quickly flipped over the paper, almost dropping it on the floor with his frantic movement. He scanned over the front of the page looking for his mark, and his eyes fell on something he wished he never saw.

He failed...by one mark.

Cloud wanted to scream, or throw something. Instead he just sat there, a defeated look on his face. He couldn't have failed, he shouldn't have failed.

" You may all leave now, the bell has gone...have a nice weekend." Mr.Guado said as everyone started to leave their seats and head out the door.

Cloud slowly got out of his desk, the shock of everything starting to wear off, to be replaced with anger.

' Just don't start screaming now...wait till you are out in the hallway, or better yet, wait until your outside the school, that way, people won't think your insane.' Cloud thought as he slowly walked out of the classroom.

He headed down towards his locker, when he felt a strong arm fling around his shoulder, and felt someone lean on him.

" Hey there, cutie!" He heard Zack say into his ear. " How is my favorite person?" He asked, his arm still wrapped around Cloud.

Oh great, the anger stage seems to have been replaced with the completely and utterly destroyed stage. Cloud now just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. Yes, Cloud felt like a real man now.

Cloud looked up into Zack's smiling face and saw it quickly fall into a frown, when he saw the look on Cloud's face.

" Aw, what's the matter?" he asked, pulling Cloud over to the side of the hallway, out of the rush of people.

Cloud looked away and shoved his test into Zack's hand. He then quickly spun around and took off down the hallway.

He made is pretty far before he heard Zack call his name from down the hallway and heavy footsteps come towards him. Cloud just pushed forward, ignoring all the glares he got from people he pushed out of the way.

He really didn't want to see Zack right now. He had worked so hard to help Cloud pass this test, and what did he do? He failed it. He let himself down, and he also let Zack down.

He got outside and headed down the main pathway, when Zack finally caught up to him.

"What's going on? Why won't you stop walking and talk to me?" Zack franticly asked, changing his pace so he was walking beside Cloud.

Cloud stopped walking and just stood there.

"I fucked up the test...the test you worked so hard on helping me with, so I would pass! I let you down, and I let myself down..." Cloud stated, and continued walking.

"Hey Cloud! I'm not angry at you, and you didn't let me down! I think you did the best you could, and you tried!" Zack continued walking with Cloud. " Here, come with me." He grabbed Cloud's hand and dragged him off to the side of the school.

Cloud followed. He started to get confused when Zack lead him away from the school, and towards a park.

The walked into the small forest, towards a large tree with thick branches that hung down, making it east to climb.

Zack let go of Cloud's hand and started up the tree, stopping at a branch and climbing up it so he was sitting on it. He looked down at Cloud and grinned.

"Come on up!" He said, waving. Cloud followed the way Zack had gone, and found himself sitting on the branch, looking out at the rest of the park.

They sat there for a moment in silence, just watching the birds flutter from tree to tree, and the bugs buzz around.

"I like to come here when I'm upset...it always relaxes me...it's my special place." Zack stated, looking over at Cloud.

"It's really nice." Cloud whispered, still looking out at the scenery. "Do you come here with anyone else?" He asked, looking down at his dangling feet.

"Nope, your the first." Zack smiled, and looked ahead again.

They just sat there for what seemed like hours, watching the world go by in a comfortable silence. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky when Zack started to talk again.

" We should get going..." Zack jumped down from the tree and landed with a thud. " Careful when you jump down, the grounds a little uneven." He called up.

Cloud looked down, trying to judge the best place to jump down too. It all looked pretty even to him up where he was, so he just closed his eyes and dropped down.

He stumbled slightly, and felt Zack's arms reach around him, to stabilize him.

Cloud looked up at Zack and straitened slightly, so they were face to face. They just stood there a moment, the whole world seemed to have stopped.

Cloud felt himself leaning in again, and remembered the last time this had happened. Well this time, he wasn't going to let anyone interrupt. He quickly closed the distance between them, and gave a short kiss to Zack's lips, quickly pulling away.

He didn't want to force himself on Zack. He didn't know if Zack felt the same way for him, even though almost all the signs pointed to it...but he wanted to be on the safe side.

Cloud looked into Zack's eyes and saw a moment of confusion, and then a small smile grace his lips.

" I was wondering when you were going to do that..." He whispered, and leaned forward, capturing Clouds lips with his own.

Zack's tongue licked at Cloud's lower lip, making Cloud whimper slightly. Cloud opened his mouth slightly letting Zack's tongue enter and graze the top of his mouth. He heard Zack moan slightly, and pushed himself up against Zack.

Cloud felt like every nerve in his body was on fire. He had never kissed anyone quite like this, and had never felt this much passion before. He thought he would get caught up in the heat and power of it all and never come back. He felt like he could die now, and be happy. It felt so right to him.

When they finally broke apart, Cloud found himself pressed up against the tree, his fingers knotted up in Zack's wild hair, while Zack's hands rested on Cloud's waist.

Zack drew away slightly, breathing a little heavily, his eyes heavy lidded. He looked at Cloud for a moment, and then pressed his forehead up against Clouds.

Cloud just stared into Zack's eyes, and smiled. Zack smiled back, and gave Cloud another quick kiss before letting go of Cloud and stepping back slightly.

" So what about that math test?" he asked.

" What math test?" Cloud breathed out.

" Exactly." Zack winked, grabbing Cloud's hand. Cloud leaned up against Zack, their fingers interlocking with each others as they walked into the open field of the park, both feeling more complete then they had felt in a long time.

* * *

**Authors Note: **Oh boy! I gotta send out MAJOR thanks to my Beta, **Cid**! Without her this chapter ( and this whole story) wouldn't be available for you guys to enjoy! Today I was getting ready to post this up and realized I didn't have chapter 5 edited on my computer! So I called her up and without hesitation she fixed it all for me! Yay! Anyways, there you have it! They have kissed (finally)! Thats the first kissing scene I have ever written so I hope it was okay! And again, thank you for all the awesome reveiws and for all of you who are reading! Love you guys! 


	6. Roxas Interlude

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney.

**Note- Please Read: **Okay, so if you start to read this and think ' Hey, this is a story about Zack and Cloud, not Roxas!' then you would be right! Thing is, as I wrote my fanfiction I kinda had an urge to write about Roxas and his little gang, so I made the 'Roxas Interludes'. I actually only wrote two (and this is one of them) so I thought I would post them up. They are just silly little chapters, no real importance. If you don't want to read them, I won't force you to. Regular chapters will start up again next week don't worry about that. But if you do read it I hope you enjoy! Oh, and there is a hint as to what the next chapter will be about in the story.

* * *

**Roxas Interlude 1**

Roxas had always thought he lived a pretty normal life back at his old place. He went to school, was on the soccer team, had a mom and an older brother. Things seemed fairly normal.

' I wish I could go back to that!' He thought to himself as he was flung over a fiery red heads shoulder and carried away from a flaming rosebush, the fire and heat spreading to other plants and shrubs surrounding it.

* * *

Roxas woke with a start when his alarm clock went off. His hand slammed down on the button as he rolled over onto his back. 

Today was a special day...well more like it was a different day. Something different was happening, but he couldn't quiet remember what it was.

No matter, he thought to himself as he swung his legs of the side of his bed and stood.

He wandered down the hallway and headed towards the bathroom. He ran into Cloud who, as of late, walked around with a tiny smile on his face. He walked around with that look on ever since he and Zack started to get 'frisky' as Axel liked to put it.

Stumbling into the bathroom and turning on the light, Roxas prepared his toothbrush and shoved it in his mouth. Roxas enjoyed brushing his teeth. It allowed him to start to think about the day and all that it entailed.

Only today, it allowed him to remember something he really wanted to forget.

Today he started Sex-Ed at school.

Normally, at his old place, it wouldn't be so bad. He and Hayner would sit in the back of the class, and doodle odd stuff and show each other. But this year, he had it with Axel and Demyx.

"Shit." He muttered as he spit out the toothpaste and started up the shower.

* * *

Well so far so good. He had spent most of the class sitting in the back, and drawing. It wasn't quiet the same as it was with Hayner, but Axel proved to be a pretty good artist, and drew some fairly entertaining pictures. Demyx spent most of the class listening to his music, trying desperately not to burst into song at any given moment. 

It all went downhill after the teacher decided to pull out the overhead.

"And here we have...oh my..." Ms.Heartilly said, her eyes widening for a moment.

Roxas looked up from the dancing Panda he was drawing to see what appeared to be a picture from the Kama Sutra book. He dropped his pencil in shock his face turning a deep shade of red. Were they allowed to show this at school?

Demyx looked up as well and ripped out one of his ear buds. "Woah..." he said, his eyes widening as well.

Suddenly Tidus spoke up from the front of the class. "That doesn't look very comfortable."

"Aw shit, it's not, well at least it's not for the person giving it, the one taking it enjoys it...isn't that right Demyx?" Axel said, leaning back in his chair.

A flash of pink could be seen as it flew past Roxas's head and contacted with Axel's face.

"JERK!" Demyx yelled, after throwing the Jigglypuff backpack. He had a small hint of amusement in his eyes, but it was quickly washed over with annoyance.

"Axel! That was uncalled for! Go to the office now!" Ms. Heartilly yelled, her face going red. Roxas couldn't decide whether it was from anger or embarrassment.

"And don't think you will get any of this tonight!" Demyx said, standing up and slapping his ass.

"DEMYX! That's enough! Office, now!" Her hand shooting off in the direction of the office.

"How do you know we won't go and practice that move in the janitor's closet when we leave?" Axel asked a cocky grin on his face.

That was it. Roxas thought he was doing a good job of keeping it in, but it suddenly just came out.

"HAHA!" He laughed, and then suddenly slammed his hand over his mouth, hoping to prevent any more sound from coming out.

The whole class turned around to look at him. Ms. Heartilly had her hip cocked out to one side, and annoyed expression on her face. "If you find this so funny, how about you go to the office with them? All of you, go!"

Roxas slowly got out of his desk and grabbed his books, following Axel and Demyx out of the classroom.

He started in the direction of the office when he felt a strong hand grasp his upper arm.

"Where do you think your going?" Axel asked, dragging Roxas off in a different direction.

"Um, I'm going to the office...like we are suppose to..."

"Well she did say to go to the office, but-" Axel started.

"She didn't say when-" Demyx butted in.

"She didn't say for how long-" Axel said.

"And she didn't say who we had to see." Demyx finished with a smug look on his face.

Roxas just stood there with a cynical look on his face. "You two sound like Fred and George." He finally said, sighing slightly.

"Oh my god I love Harry...um...Harry.." Demyx stopped and furrowed his eyebrows in deep concentration.

"Harry Potter honey, it's Potter," Axel finally said after Demyx started to look like he would have an aneurysm from thinking to hard.

"So let us go and take advantage of this free period!" and with that, Axel took off down the hallway.

Roxas followed while stuffing his books back into his backpack.

"So are you excited about tomorrow?" Demyx asked Roxas as they continued down a random hallway. "Remember, tomorrow is Halloween!"

"What?" Roxas had completely forgotten about Halloween. He hadn't actually dressed up for a few years, but this year there was a big party being held at the old Hospital Construction site, and he, Demyx, and Axel were going to go as someones Conscience. Roxas would dress normally, Axel would dress up as a devil and Demyx as an Angel.

Roxas was actually pretty excited to go, but he was more excited to see Cloud's costume. The whole outfit was a mystery to even Cloud himself. The only person who actually knew what was going on was Zack.

"I got some awesome sparkly wings!" Demyx laughed, clapping his hands together. "There so pretty..."

"Uh, thats great Demyx."

Roxas looked up ahead to see Axel hanging around a classroom door, his hands making frantic movements.

"What are you doing?" Roxas asked as he approached Axel. Roxas peeked into the classroom to see Sora sitting at a desk, his mind off in some sort of space. He finally looked over and saw Axel making movements for him to come over.

Sora's hand shot upwards. " I gotta go to the bathroom!" He yelled and shot out of his desk before the teacher could even blink.

Sora scooted out of the room and closed the door. A big grin on his face.

"How did all of you guys get out of class?" He asked looking at all of them before looking back at Axel.

"Pissed Ms. Heartilly off." Axel said, a wicked grin spreading across his face. " Now come with us as we wander around the school and look for someone else to piss off!"

"Okay, but not for to long, otherwise my teacher will wonder if I have diarrhea or something." Sora nodded and started to walk with them down the hallway.

Much of the time was spent wandering the hallways, and avoiding being seen by teachers. To Roxas, it seemed like a huge waste of time.

They soon found themselves outside, heading towards the fountain.

"OH! IT'S RIKU!" Sora yelled running over to Riku and throwing himself upon him.

'Poor Riku' Roxas though to himself. It was quiet apparent that Riku was head over heels for Sora, but Sora was extremely oblivious to all the signs.

"Hey Sora." Riku said wrapping his arms around Sora's small frame and squeezing slightly. He nodded to the rest of them over top Sora's head and smiled.

"I forgot you had a spare!" Sora said, letting go of Riku.

"Yah, I just came back from the coffee place. What are all of you guys doing?"

"Well, we were mostly wandering around the school doing nothing, and acting like assholes." Roxas stated. He nodded once to further his statement.

Suddenly Axel took off towards the hedge surrounding the school, with his lighter in hand.

Everyone watched him take off, and followed slowly, not sure if they really wanted to get caught up in what was going to happen. When Axel got that look on his face, with a lighter in hand, things would definitely end badly.

"Um... what are you doing?" Roxas asked as the approached Axel, who was now crouched down in front of a rosebush.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He laughed, flicking his lighter on and bringing it closer to the rosebush.

"What? No no no no, your not actually gonna light that thing on fire are you? Dude, the grounds keep is gonna castrate you!" Demyx said, jumping from foot to foot, his eyes bugging out of his skull.

"He can't if he doesn't catch me!"

With that, Axel brought the flame to one of the roses. The small flame spread faster then anyone had gathered it would and was quickly spreading to the whole left side of the rosebush.

"Shit!" Axel yelled. "We gotta get out of here! NOW!"

Everyone started to take off in a general south direction except for Roxas who found himself rooted at the spot, eyes fixed on the growing fire.

"Come on!" Axel yelled, hitting Roxas on the arm. "We gotta go!"

"But, I mean...we can't just LEAVE without telling anyone!" Roxas said, tearing his eyes away from the flames to look at Axel.

Axel made a sound much like that of a frustrated bear and quickly grabbed Roxas, flinging him over his shoulder and taking off after the others.

Roxas was to stunned to do much but hang on for dear life as Axel took off down the street, at speeds he thought was impossible, especially with another person weighing you down.

He was pretty sure Axel would have kept running too if they hadn't caught up to the rest of the group. Axel quickly put Roxas down on the ground, and fell down himself.

"Shit...I think...I burst...a lung..." He wheezed out.

"I thought you guys had gotten caught!"Sora exclaimed. " We were gonna come back and get you!"

"No we weren't! We were gonna come back and laugh at you!" Demyx shouted, clutching his stomach in an attempt to ease the pain from all the laughing he was doing.

"So...whats gonna happen to the rosebush?" Roxas asked, shuffling his feet around. He was started to feel really bad about all of this.

"I'm sure someone put it out." Riku said, turning around to look at the school.

Suddenly the sound of firetruck sirens could be heard in the distance, and the sound of the school fire alarm going off.

Roxas could swear he heard the screams of the grounds keeper.

Fuck.

* * *

**Authors Note: **So there is one of the little Interludes. The other one will be posted sometime in the future ( I am not so sure when) I hope you enjoyed it! Don't ask me where all the ideas came from. All I remember is I did have Sex-ed class going on at school at the time. High School Sex-ed classes are the BEST! You get the best questions ever in those classes! Hahaha...yeah. Anyways, stay tuned for next week! 


	7. Chapter 7

**Warnings**: Language, sexual situations, M/M (Yaoi) If any of that turns out off, please walk away...now! 

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney. Sadly, they do not belong to me.

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me." Cloud stated, staring at the picture and the box Zack was holding. "No way in hell am I doing this!" 

Zack just pouted slightly and dropped his head. "Come on, it will be fun! Besides, I bet you would look awfully cute in this...not to mention sexy."

Cloud went bright red and grabbed for the box. He yanked it out of Zack's hands and threw it on the bed, opening it up.

"Will you do it?" Zack asked, coming up from behind Cloud and hugging his waist, placing his chin on Cloud's shoulder. "Halloween only comes around once a year! Better make the best of it each time."

Cloud leaned slightly into Zack's embrace and sighed. He really didn't want to do this, but this was for Zack. I mean, the whole outfit wasn't that bad. It wasn't like something you would get from a fetish store or anything.

"We could also use this for other reasons then Halloween as well." Zack purred into Cloud's ear. Cloud shivered slightly, and mentally slapped himself. He was not suppose to show any weakness to Zack's persuasions.

Cloud turned around and faced Zack. "If I do it, will you stop pestering me for a month? That means no asking me to do random things that sound odd...like...capturing unicorns or something."

Zack's eye's lit up and a huge grin broke across his face. "It's a deal! Now, to seal it with a kiss!" He leaned in and gave Cloud a small peck. "But why unicorns...I don't know about you, but I think capturing unicorns would be really cool, I don't know why you wouldn't want to do that! We could get a whole army of them and take over the world!"

Cloud smiled and rolled his eyes. He pulled away from Zack and turned back around to looked at the box's content's and the picture lying beside it.

He knew he was going to regret this.

* * *

"Man, I am so going to buy a cake or something for that kid who started the fire." Reno laughed, jumping up on the wall that lines the valley of the old hospital. "That's just pure brilliance. Thanks to the kid, we get the whole afternoon off!" 

"Someone could have gotten hurt." Sephiroth added in.

"Aw, come on, don't ruin the good mood!" Zack laughed swinging and arm around Sephiroth's shoulder. Sephiroth simply glared and shrugged off his arm.

"So, are you going to tell us what you and Cloud are going as, or do we have to wait till tomorrow?" Reno asked, an eyebrow raised.

"We are going as the sailor and the nurse in the famous VJ Day Sailor picture!" Zack exclaimed, swinging his arm around Cloud's waist. Cloud simply rolled his eyes, and tried not to blush to much.

Reno sat there a moment, trying to put all the pieces together. " Wait...so your going as a sailor...and Cloud is going as a-"

'Great, here it comes' Cloud thought. Prepare to be humiliated.

"- Wait, don't sailors wear bell bottoms? Reno asked, his eyes going wide. "DUDE! Your going to wear bell bottoms?" Reno fell into a fit of giggles, almost falling off the ledge he was sitting on. "That's so awesome." He wheezed out.

Zack's mouth flew open, and looked like a fish out of water. He quickly composed himself, and grinned. "I'll wear those bell bottoms, and I will look damn sexy in them."

"So this picture...is it the one from the Times magazine? With the sailor who bent over the nurse and kissed her?" Sephiroth asked, now intrigued.

"You bet your stars it is!" Zack exclaimed. "Cloud is going to make such a pretty nurse."

Cloud jabbed his elbow in Zack's side and walked over to the wall and lifted himself up to sit on it beside Reno. "I would prefer it if you didn't call me pretty." He stated.

"But it's so hard not to! Besides I'm just stating a fact...would you rather I lie?" Zack asked, swaying back and forth on the balls of his feet.

"Well, as much as I would just love to hang out and talk about how pretty Cloud is, I gotta run." Reno jumped down from the wall, and swaggered down the road, headed in some direction.

"Where is he going?" Cloud asked, seeing as how Reno didn't seem like he was going to come back and tell them where he was running off to.

"Oh yah, he's a member of the Turks." Zack said. He walked up to the wall and leaned up against it.

"The Turks? Who the hell are the Turks?"

"It's a group of people led by Rufus, the son of the man who funds our school," Sephiroth began, standing in front of Cloud. "They basically rule the school, and to keep people happy they plan all the parties around here. This year the school teamed up with them, and are supporting the Halloween party."

"There like the mafia of the school...only rather then shoot people, they pump them full of alcohol and let them die from alcohol poisoning." Zack stated, shrugging slightly.

"And Reno is a member...why am I not surprised." Cloud sighed, shaking his head.

"But this year he isn't to happy. With the school supporting it that means no alcohol. Reno thinks a party isn't a party without alcohol." Zack laughed.

"I would watch what you drink," Sephiroth added in. "You never know what he might do."

* * *

"Does it fit?" Zack asked through Cloud's bedroom door, knocking on it slightly. 

"Yes it fits, but I can't figure out the garter belt...can you come help me?"

Zack opened the door when he heard the request for help and slipped in. When he closed the door he got a good look at Cloud. He was wearing a simple white dress that was buttoned up in the front. He had put in some padding in the bra which gave him a slight bust, but nothing to noticeable. He hadn't put the hat on yet, and was currently fiddling around with a strap on the garter belt. He looked up at Zack quickly and sighed.

"I can't get it to work! Why do women wear these?" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in defeat.

"Here, let me see if I can figure it out." Zack mumbled, still in a state of shock from seeing Cloud in a nurses outfit. He looked damn fine Zack thought.

He crouched down by Cloud and quickly flipped up the hem of the dress so he could see Cloud's underwear.

"What are you doing!" Cloud said, his face going red. Not only was he in a dress, but his boyfriend was now crouched down by his crotch, getting a good look at the lacy silk underwear he was wearing.

"I'm getting a better view. I need to see more of your leg to get this on properly." Zack didn't really seem to look at his underwear, rather his eyebrows were furrowed as he concentrated on hooking the many random strings and clips together.

Cloud just stood there, trying not to react to much when Zack started to brush up against his thigh. He squeezed his eyes shut and started to sing ' I Wanna Be Like You' from the Jungle Book, in his head.

"Hey...you shaved your legs..." Zack stated, looking up at Cloud.

Cloud looked down and started to blush even more. "Ya...well I shave them all the time...I hate the feeling of hair." He mumbled looking up at the ceiling.

Zack laughed slightly and Cloud felt something touch his thigh. Something that didn't feel like fingers.

Cloud looked down and gave Zack a questioning look. "Did you just kiss my leg?"

"Maybe..." Zack grinned and stood up. " I think it's hot that you shave." He murmured leaning into Cloud and capturing his lips with his own.

Cloud kissed back, only breaking it slightly when he fell on the bed that was behind him. Zack moved so he was half on top of Cloud, while Cloud wrapped his arms around Zack's neck.

Cloud moaned slightly into Zack's mouth, and broke away to start sucking on Zack's neck. Zack shivered slightly, his hands roaming down Cloud's chest, stopping at his waist.

"Your going to give me a hickey." Zack chuckled slightly. His hands started to roam lower, traveling under Cloud's dress, as Cloud arched up into his touch.

"Don't mess up my garter belt." Cloud breathed out, earning a laugh from Zack. Cloud kissed Zack, biting at his bottom lip while Zack's hand started to travel up to the band of Cloud's underpants. His hand had started to lift the band up higher, his finges brushing the fine blond curls down there slighly. Cloud jerked his hips foward gasping as Zack's hand started to go lower. Suddenly Zack jerked back, the underpant band falling back down on Cloud causing Cloud to hiss in pain.

A loud bang and pop was heard from outside followed by a shrill scream, some unintelligible yelling and a loud cackle.

"Shit! Im sorry Cloud!" Zack started to freak out slightly realizing he had just caused some pain to Cloud in his lower regions. "That sound freaked me out a little."

"It's okay, don't worry it scared me too." Cloud mumbled looking over at his window and glaring. "We should go..."

"Yah we should." Zack agreed. He got off of Cloud and held a hand out to help him up. "First we gotta straiten some things out." he stated, pulling Cloud's dress down slightly.

Cloud was lost in thought for sometime, thinking about what had just occurred. He and Zack has been dating for a month now, and things were starting to get pretty intense. When he had dated Tifa, by the time they got anywhere close to the level of intimacy he shared with Zack, Cloud had started to freak out slightly, not comfortable with how things were progressing. But now, with Zack, things seemed to feel right.

Cloud looked in the mirror, trying to tame his hair, and placing on the nurses hat. " I think I'm ready to go." He declared, snapping himself out of his thoughts.

Zack nodded while straitening his collar and walking towards the door. He smiled when he opened the door and gave Cloud a small kiss on the cheek. "After you." He said, stepping out of the way, allowing Cloud to leave first.

Cloud rolled his eyes and headed out into the hallway and down the stairs. "I think I should dress as a girl more often, I get better treatment." he joked. When he reached the bottom he saw Roxas rush into the house, a look of pure hatred on his face.

"Stupid Axel almost lighting me on fire with fricken fire crackers..."

Roxas mumbled, stomping past Cloud and Zack as he headed up the stairs. He paused on the first step thoug and turned around, giving Cloud a slightly horrified look. "My god Cloud..."

Roxas didn't fnish his sentance. Instead he shook his head quickly and ran up the stairs.

* * *

Cloud felt it was safe to drink the punch. Sephiroth had warned him that Reno might attempt to spike it, but when they had shown up at the party he spotted Reno getting tackled down by two guys whom he later learnt went by the names of Rude and Tseng. They successfully managed to rip a flask from Reno's hand, and searched him to make sure he wasn't hiding anything else. 

In theory, Cloud should have been fine to drink the punch.

But that was in theory.

After his sixth glass, Cloud started to feel a little..different. He couldn't walk as well as he remembered being able to, and he had some overwhelming urge to say hello to everyone he met...and an urge to hug them as well.

"Heeeey it's Zack! Zack's my boyfriend, he's handsome isn't he?" Cloud swayed down towards Zack with some girl in tow. She was confused and a little unsure of why she was following around a drunk cross dresser.

Zack looked over at Cloud, his eyes popping slightly. "Hey Cloud...are you okay?" He asked, catching Cloud as he stumbled slightly.

"I'm fine, but I want you to meet my new friend! Her name is Lulu!" Cloud sang out the last part in some unknown tune.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Lulu said, waving slightly. " He was hanging out near the punch bowl when I ran into him. I asked him if he was with anyone, and he brought me to you...I think he might have had a little bit to much." She stated, smiling a sympathetic smile.

"Thanks." Zack said, smiling slightly while trying to keep Cloud upright. "I'm really sorry about this."

"Don't be, I'm just glad I actually found someone he knows. You wouldn't believe all the people he randomly went up to and hugged." She stated. "Well I'm going to go...have fun with him!"

"Again, thank you very much." He waved to her as she left.

"You smell nice...like...something that smells nice." Cloud giggled, stuffing his face into Zack's neck.

"Thanks Cloud, now I think it's time we go home." Zack said hopefully.

"Well what do we have here?" A voice called from behind. Zack turned around slightly, to see Reno strolling up to them. "Do my eyes deceive me or do we have a drunk Cloud on our hands?"

"Oh don't you act all smug! I know this was your doing!" Zack growled out.

"Now now, don't be angry! You knew I was gonna spike it, not my fault Cloud decided to drink some of it!"

"Hey it's Reno! Reno, wanna see something?" Cloud asked, tearing himself away from Zack and wobbling slightly. "Wanna see my underwear? It's silk and frilly!"

"No no no no! Cloud, you don't want to show anyone your underwear." Zack said, trying to stabilize Cloud.

"Hey, if Cloud wants to show off his underwear, I think he is fully entitled to that privilege." Reno stated, crossing his arms and grinning.

"Besides you have already gotten to see it!" Cloud exclaimed. Reno raised an eyebrow and looked at Zack.

"Oh really! You don't say." Reno replied, a devilish grin appearing on his face.

Zack just glared at Reno and sighed. "Can you watch him for me for a second, I'm going to go find Roxas and tell him what's going on. Don't you dare try anything..." Zack said, storming off towards the 'dance floor'.

He found Roxas standing a little ways away talking to a cute blond girl dressed up as a fairy. When he approached, Roxas talked to the girl quickly and headed the rest of the way towards Zack.

"What's up?" Roxas asked.

"Well your brother seems to have gotten himself in quiet the predicament. He may be a little... drunk." Zack said, scratching the back of his head. "I'm going to take him home, so I came to tell you. Where is your conscious?"

"What? Oh yah, um I think the devils off corrupting the angel. Don't worry, I can get home."

"Thank god your a responsible kid." Zack said, patting Roxas on the shoulder. He turned around and was continuing down towards Cloud when he turned back around. "Who's the cutie? He asked.

Roxas blushed slightly and smiled. " Her name's Namine."

Zack gave him a thumbs up and turned around, continuing on his way. When he got back to where Reno and Cloud were he saw Reno trying to stop Cloud from sleeping on the ground.

"I know it's tempting, but the ground isn't that much fun to sleep on." Reno said, holding Cloud up.

Zack freed Reno from Cloud and started to make his way up the valley. "Come on Reno, your coming with us!" He called back.

* * *

"If not himself, then he has naught, to say things he truly feels-" 

They walked down the street at a leisurely manner. Zack and Reno watched as Cloud swayed around in front of them singing 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra, while he carried his abandoned high heels in one hand.

" - and not the words of one who kneels, the record shows I took the blows, I did it MY WAAAY!" Cloud sang, finishing the song off with a burst of energy and noise.

"Hey Cloud, look were home!" Zack exclaimed, guiding Cloud up the walkway.

Reno walked a little ways behind, trying to see if he could run home without Zack noticing.

Zack hoped the door was unlocked when they got there, but sadly it wasn't. He was about to ask Cloud if he had a key when Cloud hit the doorbell, a look of pure glee on his face.

Zack wanted to smack his head against the wall, but decided not to when Cloud started to play with the zipper on Zack's pants.

"Hey now, you don't want to do that." Zack jumped, trying to pull Cloud's hands away.

"Awww, why not?" Cloud pouted, wrapping his arms around Zack's neck.

Suddenly the door opened, and Ms. Strife appeared, in her full nightgown glory. Her eyes bugged out slightly, along with Zack's as Cloud started to play with Zack's pant zipper again.

"Hello Ms. Strife!" Zack yelled, swatting Cloud's hand away. "I have come to return your son!"

Reno stood on the steps, trying not to laugh and bring attention to himself.

Cloud turned around, a goofy grin on his face. "Hi mom...hey, look." He pointed to the floor, and then proceeded to fall forward.

Zack leapt forward, catching Cloud, and managing to cup his fake boobs. Zack looked up and laughed nervously. "He sure likes his punch!" was all Zack could say.

* * *

**Authors Note:** And we are back to our regular program! So I hoped you liked Cross Dressing Cloud...and Drunk Cloud. I really couldn't resist putting him in a dress. I think Cloud in a dress is the most amazing thing ever. PLUS it's canon, so how can you go wrong? If you don't know what picture I am talking about in regards to what Zack and Cloud went as, simply google 'VJ Day Sailor' and the picture will come up. It's pretty famous, especially around valentines day. So I gotta say thanks to all of you who have reviewed so far and who are watching this story, you have no idea how happy I get when I read all your reviews! And Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians! I hope you eat so much that someone has to roll you to the couch after supper! 


	8. Chapter 8

**Warnings**: Language, sexual situations, M/M (Yaoi) If any of that turns out off, please walk away...now!

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney.

**WARNING!** **THIS CHAPTER IS NOT WORKSAFE! Please read carefully, I don't want anyone coming upon this and freaking out and reporting it. Again, it's NOT WORKSAFE!**

* * *

Cloud sat on Reno's front porch, the autumn sun shooting down, basking him in warmth. Zack sat beside him, a grin spread across his face as he followed a badminton birdie through the air.

"How long have they been rallying for?" Cloud asked, leaning up against the stair railing.

"Um...an hour and twenty...three minutes." Zack answered looking down at his digital watch. "Although this isn't the longest that they have been able to keep it in the air."

Cloud looked over at Zack and then back at the birdie. He had just spent the last hour and twenty three minutes watching Reno and Rude rally in badminton. The sheer excitement of it all was threatening to make him explode.

"Not the longest eh? What was then?"

Zack kept his eye on the birdie, a smile still on his face. "Four hours and forty nine minutes."

Cloud's eyes bugged out slightly. "You are so shitting me right now." he exclaimed.

"No, I swear to god I'm not! Even ask Aerith, she was there." Zack laughed turning his attention to Cloud. "Once you get into the groove of it, you can go for a long while. I just suck at it so the longest I have gone is twenty minutes. I think you would be pretty good at badminton."

"The groove?" Cloud stated, raising an eyebrow. "Okay then, whatever you say."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, the only sound was the birdie hitting the racket and whizzing through the air.

"Did you know they used to date." Zack said, cracking his back and lying down slightly on the steps, his elbows supporting him.

"Huh? Who?" Cloud asked, turning so he was facing Zack.

"Reno and Rude! They dated for almost two years." Zack replied, acting like what he had spewed forth was the most well known piece of information ever.

Cloud sat there a moment processing what Zack had just said. "So...those two...the stoic one who never talks...and the one who never shuts up and tries to hump everything he sees...they dated." he finally said.

"Yup. I know it's pretty hard to believe but they did. They broke up just before summer vacation because they both wanted to go there separate way's and date some different people. But as you can see they are still really good friends."

Cloud furrowed his eyebrows. "I never would have thought...hey wait, they dated for two years and Reno is still a virgin?"

"It all depends on your definition of a virgin now doesn't it?" Zack winked.

Cloud was just about to question further when a scream was heard.

"FUCKER!"

Cloud and Zack both shot their head's forward in time to see Reno standing there, a small badminton birdie lying at his feet.

"Maaaaan," Reno whined picking up the birdie and dropping his racket. " How long was that this time?" He yelled across the yard to Zack.

"An hour and forty minutes." He called back, standing up and heading towards Reno.

All three of them made there way towards Reno as Reno just stood there, fiddling around with the birdie, a look of defeat on his face. "Sorry..." he mumbled.

Rude just shrugged and bent down to pick up the racket Reno had dropped.

"Hey, you were going to show me something cool!" Zack exclaimed, now remembering Reno saying something about ' something so cool it could destroy the world with it's awesomeness.'

"Oh Ya! Okay guys...watch this." Reno said, positioning himself in front of Zack, an evil glint in his eye.

Without warning Reno let out a terrifying yell. There was a flash of limbs and someone went down.

Cloud looked down at his feet to see Zack crunched over. Cloud couldn't decide whether he was laughing or crying. He suspected it was a little of both.

"Shit..." Rude muttered.

"Shit? SHIT! That's all you have to say for that? It at least deserves a-"

"Totally fucking...awesome." Zack wheezed out from the ground.

"Exactly! I learnt that from the greatest martial art's teacher ever!" Reno laughed, doing a high kick in the air.

"You mean from Herman? The homeless guy who lives under the bridge?" Rude questioned, while Cloud bent down to help Zack up.

"Same thing..." Reno rolled his eyes.

Zack stood up shakily with the help of Cloud. He was still clutching his stomach a grin on his face.

"That hurt a lot, but it was so worth it to hear your screech!" He laughed. "You kind of sounded like Aerith when she finds a rare type of flower seed."

Reno's mouth dropped and his eyebrows furrowed. "I do not- I mean what? I sounded like a girl? I will have you know- OH! Let's go play Hide and Seek!"

Cloud really couldn't follow Reno's train of thought and he didn't think he would ever be able to. Zack and Rude didn't seem fazed at all by the random deceleration though.

"Come on! We haven't played Hide and Seek for so long! We should try and get as many people as we can, and go to the old Hospital! It will be fun!" Reno was now jumping from foot to foot.

"You know...that's not such a bad idea!" Zack said patting Reno on the shoulder. "We definitely have to get Sephiroth to join, he's like a ninja or something when it comes to the game. You can never find him..."

"Yes, I agree! Now all of you, go and get as many people as you can to join and meet back here in half an hour!" Reno declared, turning around and marching off.

Cloud was actually pretty excited to play Hide and Seek. He couldn't actually remember the last time he had played, but he knew he used to be really good at it. His smaller size as a kid had it's advantages.

* * *

By the time they had all made it back to Reno's, there was a large mass of people gathered outside his house, doing various things on the lawn. 

Cloud jaw almost dropped at the sheer amount of people who had decided to show up. He had managed to convince Roxas to come and a few of his friends, but that was all. He hadn't imagined so many people would ever come to play Hide and Seek on a Saturday evening.

He recognized a few people, most of them being Turk members Reno had introduced to him at the Halloween party...when Cloud was still sober, as well as some kids he had seen around school, and a select few he actually talked to.

"You guys are finally back! Come on, lets get out of here!" Reno called from across the yard, waving at Zack and Cloud.

"I didn't think we would be the last ones to show up..." Zack whispered to Cloud.

"Well we wouldn't have been late if you didn't decide to chase the ducks at the park." Cloud shot back falling in step with Zack as they followed the large group of people to the Hospital.

Zack grabbed Cloud's hand and interlocked there fingers. Cloud blushed slightly, and tried not to look at anyone. He and Zack has been 'out' as a couple for a while now, but Cloud was still embarrassed when it came to public displays of affection.

They all walked on the road, and thankfully no cars came by. Cloud swore he saw a few elderly couples scuttle back inside when they saw the large mass of teenagers walk by. Cloud didn't really blame them.

By the time they all got to the hospital they had decided that Reno would be it, seeing as how he came up with the idea. Reno begrudgingly accepted the proposal.

"Fine! Have it your way!" Reno called, turning around and walking up to a metal bar. He placed his hands over his eyes while he leaned back on the bar, and slowly started to count.

Zack shifted his grip on Cloud's hand and took off towards one of the more covered areas. Cloud quickly followed trying not to trip on anything.

Zack turned a sharp corner and stopped at a large concrete tube with a tattered tarp covering the opening .

"Home sweet home!" Zack sang out, letting go of Cloud's hand and pushing away the tarp motioning for Cloud to enter.

"Isn't this a little obvious?" Cloud asked, peering into the tube.

"That's the whole point! You learn something about Reno when you play this game. He _always_ looks in the strangest most random places ever before he will look at the completely obvious places. So I say we have a pretty good change of winning seeing as how this is one of the most obvious places in the entire construction site." Zack finished with a grin.

Cloud gave him a cynical look, but went in anyways. It was dark in the tube, but you could still see figures, and dark shapes.

Cloud went further into the tube until he got to the middle of it, where he stopped and turned around.

He came face to face with Zack, and almost ran into him. He let out a small sound of distress.

"Don't come so close! I didn't hear you come behind me!" Cloud exclaimed, punching Zack on the arm. " You scared me."

"Sorry!" Zack laughed, grabbing Cloud and hugging him. " But the more scared you are, the more likely it is the ghost will appear!" Zack joked, rocking Cloud back and forth.

Cloud tore away from the embrace and glared at Zack. "Don't joke about that stuff. Someone actually died here...we don't want to piss it off."

Cloud had always been fascinated by the paranormal, and felt that ghost actually existed, and you didn't mess with them. Disrespecting a ghost could mean trouble.

"Fine fine, I wont piss the ghost off." Zack sighed, leaning up against the wall of the tube. "So we have a while to waste...what do you wanna do?"

"How about we sit for a while, we don't always have to be doing something, do we?" Cloud asked, leaning up against the tube beside Zack.

"But I get all fidgety when I don't do anything!" Zack complained scuffing his feet on the ground. "Hey...I know what we can do..."

"What's tha-" Cloud was quickly cut off when Zack whipped around so he was facing Cloud, and quickly captured Cloud's lips with his own.

Cloud melted under the touch, and wrapped his arms around Zack's neck. He just prayed to all that was holy that no one found them.

They kissed for what seemed like ages, and Cloud let himself become consumed by it all. Only when he was pressed harder up against the wall did he come back to a semi-aware state.

It always seemed to go like this. Zack would initiate the kiss, then Cloud would always seem to find himself pressed up against the wall or his back on whatever surface they were near, with Zack taking control of it.

Sure Cloud enjoyed the contact, and he was happy with the way things were, but sometimes he wished he could be a little more dominant. He smiled to himself when he came up with something.

Before Zack realized it, Cloud has undone his belt buckle and was slowly undoing the zipper on his jeans.

" ...Cloud?" Zack breathed, breaking the kiss and looking into Cloud's eyes and then down at his pants.

Cloud simply smiled, and brought his hand down into Zack's boxers, wrapping his hand around Zack's hardening arousal.

Zack grabbed at Cloud's shoulder and squeezed slightly. He looked up at Cloud, a look of slight worry on his face, mixed with obvious pleasure.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Zack gasped out as Cloud slowly started stroking him.

Cloud didn't reply, instead he used his other hand to grab the back of Zack's neck, closing the distance between them.

Zack's hands went down Cloud's chest and started to try and undo Cloud's belt as well. Cloud moved out of the way slightly and broke the kiss. "Just enjoy..." he whispered.

Zack slowly started to nibble at Cloud's neck, as Cloud felt a small shiver go through Zack as his thumb flicked over the head of Zack's shaft. Cloud hadn't ever done anything so intimate before, and he didn't really know if he was doing it right, but he tried not to let that show. Judging by Zack's reaction though he thought he must be doing something right.

Zack tried to stop from jerking into the touch, but to no avail. He quickly came in Cloud' hand, with a choked yell.

"Fuck Cloud..." Zack whispered into Cloud's neck. He slouched forward and rested up against Cloud. "What was that all about?"

Cloud shrugged slightly and took his hand out of Zack's pants. "I just wanted to show you that I won't be dominated that easily." He said, smirking slightly.

Zack laughed slightly and lifted his head up from Cloud's shoulder. "Your really something else." He said looking into Cloud's smiling face.

Zack steadied himself slightly using Cloud's shoulder for support, and leaned away. He started to get things 'down there' in order, hopefully looking a little more presentable. Cloud looked down at his one hand, wondering how the hell he was going to go about cleaning it.

Suddenly the tarp covering the opening was pushed aside revealing the face of one very excited red head.

"HA!" Reno called, lifting away the tube even more to expose a large group of people behind him. Cloud thrust his hands behind himself, and tried to look composed. He glanced quickly at Zack, who actually seemed slightly embarrassed. He never seemed embarrassed.

Cloud looked back at Reno and noticed Roxas standing a little ways back, and accusing look on his face. Did everyone suspect?

"Man guys, this is the best hiding spot ever! I never would have looked here first!" Reno laughed.

Cloud could have sworn he saw Rude roll his eyes from behind his sunglasses.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Guh... I am so nervous about this chapter! First time I have ever written a scene like that. This fic is just filled with first times for me (and Zack and Cloud too xD ). But I hope it was okay and I hope all of you payed attention to my warning! I obviously like to give Cloud a little more dominance in the relationship, because far to often I read fic's where Zack takes complete control and I wanted to mix things up a little! Oh and in regards to the Reno/Rude thing. My friend really likes the pairing and I am good with it, so I thought I would throw 'em in! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and stay tune for next week! Oh, and reviews are always welcome, I really appreciate all the people who have reviewed, watched, and favorited this story! 


	9. Chapter 9

**Warnings**: Language, sexual situations, M/M (Yaoi) 

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney. Sadly, they do not belong to me.

* * *

"What time is the bus suppose to come?" Zack asked, leaning against Cloud, sighing slightly. 

Cloud stabilized himself and glanced at his watch. "Ten minutes ago..."

Zack moaned and started to pace around. He rarely stayed still, and for him to have stopped moving for that short period of time was really quiet amazing. He started to fiddle with a strand of long black hair that had escaped the red bandanna he was wearing and had flopped down in front of his eyes. He started to mumble about the slow bus services in the country and how Tifa and Vincent should have just flown over.

It was mid November and it seemed a great number of schools had a four day long weekend, and Tifa and Vincent had taken the opportunity to bus down to Hollow Bastion to visit Cloud. Yuffie had wanted to tag along, but unfortunately had to go on a small trip with her parents.

Cloud was really excited to see both Tifa and Vincent, but was also extremely nervous about it. He was mostly nervous because he had neglected to tell them something very important. He hadn't told them about his new relationship, which also meant he hadn't told them about his liking of guys. He didn't really know how they would act when he told them, he didn't expect them to be disgusted with it but he couldn't help but think it anyway.

He also hadn't told Zack about all of this.

He looked down at his feet and kicked a small rock around before looking up at Zack, he had stopped walking around and was giving Cloud a concerned look.

"You okay?" He asked, walking over to Cloud, combing back a few stay hairs from Cloud's field of vision.

Cloud nodded slightly and sighed. "I kinda have something to tell you..." he spoke, standing up a little straighter. Zack looked slightly worried, but didn't say anything. Cloud continued, "I kinda...maybe haven't told Tifa and Vincent about us, and I was wondering if maybe we could not act as a couple for a bit...that is until I tell them."

Cloud looked down over Zack's shoulder, not wanting to make eye contact with Zack. When Zack didn't say anything right away Cloud started to get worried and forced himself to look at Zack.

Zack was smiling slightly at Cloud, trying to look reassuring. "Hey, that's fine. As long as I get to meet your friends I'm fine."

Cloud could see a small amount of hurt in his eyes, but didn't have time to talk about it some more before he saw two familiar faces looking around, slightly confused.

Cloud grabbed Zack's hand and squeezed it slightly before he shifted his grip so he was holding onto Zack's arm. He headed over to Tifa and Vincent a smile gracing his lips as he pulled Zack along with him.

Tifa saw Cloud first and broke out into a huge grin. She jogged up to Cloud and Zack while Vincent followed slowly behind with travel bags in tow.

Cloud let go of Zack's arm and hugged Tifa. She returned the embrace laughing lightly. When they pulled away she grabbed his hands, and swung them from side to side. "I didn't know you missed me enough to give me a hug!" She laughed.

Cloud blushed slightly and turned to Vincent. Vincent put his bags down, and Cloud and Vincent shared a 'manly' hug.

"Good to see you," Vincent spoke. His eyes flicked over to Zack, he gave a confused look.

Zack shifted slightly under the stare that Vincent was giving him, and returned it with a sheepish smile.

Cloud looked to where Vincent was looking and blushed even more. Not only had he just hurt Zack only a few moments ago, but now he had completely forgotten about him as soon as he saw Vincent and Tifa.

Cloud moved so he was standing beside Zack and smiled at Tifa and Vincent. "Tifa, Vincent, this is one of the guys I talk about all the time, Zack."

Zack broke out into his trademark grin and reached his hand out to Vincent. Vincent took his hand and shook, nodding slightly.

"Nice to meet you." Vincent said and let go.

"You too," Zack spoke, and turned his attention to Tifa. He stuck his hand out to her and she took it, a small blush creeping up on her cheeks.

"Hello," she said as Zack winked at her before letting go of her hand.

Tifa laughed slightly and batted her eyelashes more then usual. Cloud's eyes bugged out slightly -- he had seen that look before.

"I have to go to the bathroom for a moment...where is it?" Tifa asked, looking around for a sign of some kind.

"Oh, I know where it is," Cloud said. Tifa shot him a smile and linked her arm with his as Cloud started towards the bathroom.

Vincent moved so he was standing next to Zack, watching Tifa and Cloud walk away. "Did he tell you they used to date?" he asked.

"Yeah...why?" Zack asked. Why would Vincent care about that?

Vincent just shrugged.

Meanwhile Cloud was being dragged into the girl's washroom by a persistent Tifa.

"Come on, no one is in here, okay?" She said, giving one final tug and pulling Cloud in. She closed the main door and locked it, before turning around and looking at Cloud. "I am disappointed in you," Tifa began, walking over to the bathroom mirror. "You never told me Zack was so attractive."

Cloud stumbled slightly and hit a washroom stall door, causing a large bang to break the short silence in the room. He jumped slightly when the door hit the wall, and Tifa gave him a look.

"You're as clumsy as ever," she laughed. Cloud just glared at her before she turned around to inspect herself in the mirror yet again.

"Anyways, was it just me, or do you think he and I kind of hit it off?" she asked, unaware of the position she was putting Cloud in. "I might ask him for his number later."

Cloud tried to act cool about it, but the thought of his ex-girlfriend hitting on his current boyfriend was enough to make him want to burst. He simply shrugged and leaned up against the wall.

Tifa suddenly whipped around and looked at Cloud with an apologetic look. " I am so so so so sorry!" she exclaimed her eyes bugging out. Cloud's eyes bugged out as well and they both stood there staring at each other.

Had she figured it out already? How the hell could she know already? All these questions were running through Cloud's head, as he stood there, stunned.

Tifa spoke up first, "this must be so weird for you. I mean your ex talking about your best friend in that context!"

Cloud let out a sigh of relief. "Well it is a little weird...I mean you did just meet him," he said, trying to sound relaxed about it, but at the same time trying to get the point across that it was really not cool with him.

"I'm sorry..." Tifa said, patting his arm and then walking towards the door. "We should be heading back," she opened the door and headed out, leaving Cloud in the girl's washroom.

She hasn't said she wasn't going to stop flirting...

* * *

They had all gone back to Cloud's place to watch some movies. Tifa and Vincent were hanging out in the living room going through Cloud's DVD collection, while Cloud and Zack were making popcorn in the kitchen.

"So...what do you think of them?" Cloud asked, filling a glass with water while Zack watched the popcorn twirl around in the microwave.

"They're really awesome. I can see why you're friends with them," Zack said, tearing his gaze away to look at Cloud. "Although Vincent is a little intimidating...kinda like Seph!" He scratched the back of his head and laughed softly.

"Vincent seems to scare a lot of people, but he's a nice guy." Cloud started to swirl the water in his glass around, trying to think of a way to talk about Tifa without sounding like a complete twat. "So... what do you think of Tifa?" His voice squeaked slightly when he asked. Zack gave him an odd look and Cloud mentally slapped himself.

"She's a nice girl, seems like she can really take care of herself. Her punches hurt..." Zack rubbed his arm, remembering when she punched his arm in the car for a comment he made about her shoes.

Cloud was about to say something when the microwave beeped a few times. Zack whipped around and jumped from foot to foot. "It's ready!" He yelled, whipping open the door and grabbing the bag. He was getting ready to open the bag when he suddenly fell down on one knee and grabbed at his head.

"Fuck!" He yelled squeezing his eyes shut. Cloud was by his side in a second, concern written all over his face.

"What's wrong?" Cloud asked frantically, putting his hand on Zack's shoulder. When Zack didn't reply he squeezed his shoulder. He didn't know what to do, and Zack looked like he was in distress.

But after a few tense moments Zack cracked open an eye and took his hands away from his forehead. He laughed a nervous laugh and looked over at Cloud. "Sorry about that..."

"Is everything okay in there?" They heard Vincent call from the living room.

Zack kept focus on Cloud before he yelled back in response, "everything is fine!"

"What was that about?" Cloud asked, his eyes large and watering slightly. He had never seen someone go from being perfectly fine to being in complete and utter pain.

Zack put his hand over Clouds hand that was still squeezing onto his shoulder and lifted it off his shoulder brining it to his mouth and giving it a small kiss. "It's nothing. I get migraines sometimes, and this one was just really bad...it's no big deal, really."

He stood up and stretched slightly before rubbing his eyes. Cloud stood up as well, still not convinced. "You sure you're okay?" He asked.

"Right as rain. But I think I am gonna go home and sleep, just in case." Cloud nodded in agreement and walked with Zack to the living room. Vincent looked up from a DVD case he was reading, and Tifa shot up from the couch looking worried.

"What was the yelling about?" She asked.

Cloud was about to respond when Zack cut in, "I dropped the popcorn all over the floor." Zack laughed, and shrugged. Tifa nodded and Vincent just raised his eyebrows. "Anyways, I'm gonna head home, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and besides, you guys all need to catch up without me being in the way!"

"Okay...bye!" Tifa said, looking slightly disappointed. "See you tomorrow?"

"You bet!" Zack replied, winking.

Cloud walked with Zack to the door, and leaned against the wall as Zack put his shoes on. He was still shaking slightly and was extremely confused. Why would Zack just lie like that? It wasn't like having migraines was something to be ashamed of.

Zack glanced around to make sure Tifa and Vincent were around before he grabbed Cloud and pulled him into a tight hug. "Don't look so worried," he whispered, kissing the top of Cloud's head before pulling away.

Cloud smiled slightly and nodded. "I know… still just a little shaken up, it's not every day you see someone get a migraine like that."

He kissed Zack on the lips before opening the door. Zack waved slightly and stepped outside, heading down the walkway.

Cloud watched him for a few moments before closing the door and heading back into the living room.

* * *

The past few days had been quite eventful and had left Cloud feeling exhausted. He had taken Vincent and Tifa to the many places a 'larger' city had to offer. The had gone to the wave pool which, looking back, hadn't been the best idea. Reno and Zack tagged along (Sephiroth never went swimming, it left his hair in a complete mess) and Tifa had gone completely weak in the knee's after seeing Zack in a bathing suit. Cloud spent most of the time keeping an eye on Tifa and Zack and almost ended up drowning after a particularly large wave hit him from behind.

The next day they had all gone shopping (Sephiroth had decided to join them for that adventure) and all had gone smoothly until Cloud had walked out onto the street without looking first and was almost hit by a car. Zack had, thankfully, stuck his hand and grabbed Cloud before he went any farther and ended up crushing Cloud to his chest, which left Cloud in a somewhat flustered state. Tifa then spent the first five minutes checking Cloud over and over again for any bruising, and the next five minutes thanking Zack for saving him.

So after getting home from shopping and going to see a movie which turned out to be a total chick flick, much to the amusement of Tifa, and to the disappointment of all the guys (although Cloud suspected Reno enjoyed it just as much as Tifa), Cloud found himself curled up into a warm little ball in his bed, trying to fall asleep, but failing.

He rolled over for what must have been the hundredth time. He still hadn't told Tifa and Vincent about he and Zack, and as time went by it was getting harder and harder.

Vincent was lying on a sleeping cot next to his bed while Tifa was staying in Roxas's room. Roxas was spending the long weekend over at Axel's where they were going to play video games for the entire weekend with only bathroom and food breaks. Last Cloud heard, they were still playing, and Reno was contemplating shutting off the power in the house to get them to stop.

"Can't sleep?"

Cloud rolled over and looked at Vincent, shaking his head. "No, not really. Sorry if I'm keeping you awake."

He heard Vincent laugh lightly and watched him sit up. "I rarely sleep anyways, you should know that."

"I know, I know," Cloud whispered, rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling. His mind had just started to wander when he was brought back to earth when he heard Vincent speak.

"So... how long have you and Zack been a couple for?'"

If Cloud hadn't already been lying down, he was sure he would have fallen down right then and there at Vincent's question.

"Uh..." Cloud responded, his mind going blank.

"It's not that hard to notice. I mean you two walk really close beside each other, and give each other looks when you don't think anyone else is watching. Only reason why Tifa hasn't noticed is because she has a huge crush on Zack," Vincent explained, brushing back his long hair from his eyes.

Cloud sat up as well and looked at Vincent, "was it that obvious?"

Vincent simply nodded. "I don't know why you didn't just tell me."

Cloud blushed slightly. Vincent didn't say it in an accusing way, but rather a slightly hurt way. Now Cloud felt like a real dick.

"Sorry...I just didn't know how you would react. I mean last time you saw me, I liked girls and had dated Tifa, and now you see me and I'm dating a guy. But Zack is a really amazing person. I mean you know him, but you don't _know him_ know him... you know? He makes me feel like everything will be okay in this world," Cloud stopped talking soon after he realized he was getting all mushy. Cloud _didn't_ get mushy.

There was a pause in the conversation then Vincent spoke again. "You really love him... don't you?"

"Yeah...I really do," Cloud whispered, lying back down.

"I'm glad you found someone, and I'm not angry at you for not telling me, I understand," Vincent replied lying down as well. "But you still have to tell Tifa."

Cloud laughed and stuffed his face into his pillow. "Yeah, I know...and thanks for understanding."

* * *

"Oh my god Cloud! I can't believe you wore that!" Tifa exclaimed.

Cloud walked into the back office where Tifa, Vincent, Reno and Zack were all crowded around the computer.

Cloud walked farther into the room and looked over Reno's shoulder to see them all looking at a picture of Cloud in his Halloween costume. Luckily it wasn't one of the pictures of Zack and Cloud actually posing at there Halloween costume, or Cloud would have a lot of explaining to do.

"Oh god, I thought I got rid of all those pictures," Cloud muttered.

"I think you look so pretty! You pull that dress off better then I could!" Tifa laughed, closing the window and turning around to look at Cloud. "How did Zack convince you to dress like that?"

Cloud turned the colour of a tomato and coughed slightly. "Promised to stop bothering me to do weird stuff for a month," Cloud stated. He wasn't going to add in the part about Zack kissing him senseless until he couldn't think straight.

"I'm hungry," Zack said, changing the subject. "Let us go get food!"

"AGREED!" Reno yelled, and started to saunter towards the kitchen. Tifa got out of her chair and followed Reno, laughing when he tripped over a stray cushion. Cloud hear him mutter 'I meant to do that' before continuing on his way.

Cloud, Zack and Vincent soon followed, but Cloud stopped to pick up the pillow, earning himself a smack on the ass. He whipped around to see Zack with a smug grin on his face, and Vincent who was trying to ignore what was going on in front of him. Cloud threw the pillow at Zack's face before continuing on his way to the kitchen.

He almost walked into the kitchen before he heard the conversation Reno and Tifa were having. He put his hand out to stop Zack and Vincent, before leaning in slightly.

"- so you know... you can have my number if you like. A pretty lady like yourself shouldn't be all by herself," Cloud heard Reno drawl out.

"Oh, well thanks for that, uh compliment, but I kinda like someone and want their number instead. Sorry," Tifa shot back. Cloud could practically hear her cocking her hip to the side.

"Oh, really now? And do I know this person?"

"Yeah, pretty well I'm guessing. It's Zack. I was planning on asking for his number before I leave today."

Cloud felt Zack slap his arm, and Cloud whipped around sending him a glare. He mouthed a 'what' and saw Zack almost peeing himself from laughing.

"She likes me?" He whispered. "I never knew!"

Cloud rolled his eyes, and turned his attention back to the conversation.

"Zack? Good luck with that." Reno laughed.

"What... you don't think I am his type?" Tifa sounded slightly worried.

"Nah, I am sure you're a nice girl, but Zack is already dating Cloud." There was a death in the conversation, and Cloud almost slammed his head into the wall while he tripped on his feet trying to get into the kitchen.

Cloud stormed in, with Zack and Vincent on his heels. He looked at Tifa and saw a confused look on her face, her mouth hanging open like a fish.

"Tifa..." Cloud said, reaching out to her. God, it felt like some cheesy soap opera.

His hand remained stretched out, and she just stared at him. It wasn't until Zack moved forward and pushed Cloud's arm down did the conversation pick up again.

"Wait... Reno... did you just say Cloud was dating Zack?" Tifa asked, looking from Reno, to Zack, and then to Cloud.

"Well I actually said Zack was dating Cloud but-" Reno was interrupted by Cloud storming over and kicking Reno in the shin.

"OW! MAN! UNCALLED FOR!" Reno huddled down on the ground, and hugged his leg to his body, grumbling.

"Tifa, I am so sorry for not telling you!" Cloud said. He didn't want Tifa to find out something this important in this kind of way.

Tifa just stood there a moment, and then walked towards Cloud, dragging him into a huge crushing hug. "It's okay Cloud! I am so happy for you! I just wish you would have told me Zack was off limits so I wouldn't embarrass myself!" She kept her hold on Cloud, and Cloud heaved a sigh of relief.

Tifa finally let go and held Cloud at arms length. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I was nervous. I mean I left and was into girls, and then you come and I am dating a guy and I never told you before and it was just kinda got harder and harder after time. I also thought you might be weirded out."

"Weirded out? Cloud, love is love, it doesn't matter if your a different race, the same sex, or well, anything... as long as you love someone, thats all that matters."

Cloud stood there and let the words sink in. She was right...

The mood was ruined when Reno started to make gagging sounds from his place on the floor. "I don't know about you but I came over here for food and to get away from my zombie brother and your zombie brother, NOT to listen to some after-school special crap!"

Zack burst out laughing at this statement, and Cloud soon started to laugh as well.

"You gotta admit, that was kind of lame." Zack said, coming up and wrapping his arm around Tifa. "But I am glad you accept it, I swear Cloud was gonna develop major bags under his eyes from lack of sleep over all of this."

Tifa laughed, "well it's his own damn fault!"

Tifa looked over at Vincent who had seemed to drift closer to a wall, obviously trying to go unnoticed.

"Your taking this really well Vincent! You don't even seem shocked!" Tifa exclaimed, walking over to him.

"Food!" Reno yelled from the floor, but no one was paying attention.

"Well I already knew," Vincent said.

Tifa's happy expression turned from a happy smiling face to an angry woman who had just learnt her husband had been cheating on her with the slutty secretary.

"You knew... and didn't tell me?!"

* * *

**Authors Note:** Homg... so everyone should send all their love to my wonderful Cloud, who without her and her amazing friendship and amazingness (I am such a wordsmith), this chapter would not be out tonight. I deleted the edited chapter, and couldn't get a hold of my regualr beta until later in the day, so my Cloud (Rosie, you are a godess) filled in. She did a really good job I must say! Anyways, Ihoe you enjoyed this chapter, and all the randomness. I thought I should include Cloud's old friends and I hope I wrote both Tifa anf Vincent well! Also, any idea's on whats up with Zack? Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, I really appreciate them! And thank you for all who watch and favorited this story! You guys are all amazing! 


	10. Chapter 10

Warnings: Language, Sexual situations, Yaoi (M/M)

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney, not me.

**WARNING!: This chapter is NOT worksafe! I repeat NOT worksafe!**

* * *

Cloud could tell it was going to rain. He could smell it in the air, not to mention see the black cloud's closing in around the city.

Zack didn't seem to notice though, or if he did he didn't seem to care. He was going on about something funny and rather painful sounding that he saw on the Internet, while he and Cloud wandered down the street, heading towards no destination in particular.

It was getting close to Christmas, and still there was no snow. Cloud should have been used to it by now, seeing as how he never lived in any place that granted snowfall, but it still made him sad. He longed to have a white Christmas, just once.

This all reminded him that he had yet to buy Zack a present. He didn't really know what to get Zack. He could always buy him a CD, or possibly a book of some kind. But the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to get Zack something special, something that would really mean something to him. They were getting closer and closer to each other everyday it seemed, and a CD just wouldn't convey the feeling's he had for Zack very well.

" - And then he fell down AGAIN, and this time the donkey got right on him...man I tell yah, that must have been mighty uncomfortable...hey Cloud?"

Cloud snapped out of his daze to look up at an amused Zack.

"You daydreaming again?" Zack asked, wrapping his arm around Cloud's shoulder and pulling him close.

"Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about how wet we are going to get if we get caught in this storm." Cloud replied, leaning into Zack's embrace.

Zack looked up at the sky, only now realizing that there was going to be a storm. "Oh...wow. Ooh! Do you think there is going to be thunder? I love thunder!"

Cloud chuckled and shook his head. "You're like a little kid sometimes! Actually, scratch that, you're always like a little kid!"

Zack was about to reply, when a loud crash went through the sky, and the heavens decided to open up.

"Holy mother of all that is holy!" Zack yelled, jumping slightly.

Cloud burst out laughing, momentarily forgetting that he was getting extremely wet, in a very short amount of time. " I thought you loved thunder!" He exclaimed, raising his voice over the sound of the rain pelting down.

"I do, just not when it sneaks up on me like that! I didn't even see the lightning!" Zack shoved some of his wet hair from his face, and looked around. "We should find some shelter before-"

"Before what? We get wet? I think that's already happened!" Cloud butted in. "But we should get inside. We're closer to my house, lets go."

Cloud grabbed Zack's hand and started to run towards his house.

It only took them a little while to get back to the house, and Cloud noticed his mom's car wasn't in the driveway. She must be out Cloud thought as he ran up the stairs with Zack, taking cover underneath the awning over top the deck.

He shoved his hand down his pocket and extracted his key that he thankfully remembered to bring, and opened the door walking into the dark hallway.

Zack soon followed, and then both found themselves sopping wet in Cloud's thankfully warm house.

"God, that rain sure can chill you to the bone pretty fast." Zack managed to get out, while shaking rather hard. "We should have brought jackets or something."

Cloud shook his head slightly, and took of his shoes before walking farther into the room. " Go up to my room and I will be there in a second with some towels." He instructed Zack before taking off to the linen closet.

He heard Zack shuffle upstairs, muttering under his breath about how cold he was now. Cloud chuckled to himself as he grabbed a few large, and warm towels. He ran up the stairs, pausing to look into Roxas's room and noticed he too was out.

"Here." Cloud said, handing a towel to Zack when he entered the room. "Dry your hair for now, and I'll look for something that you can wear. I don't know if you will fit any of my clothes."

Cloud wandered over to his dresser, and started to dig around in the drawers. He finally decided on a pair of his pajama pants, and one of the larger shirts he owned. It wasn't like Zack was much bigger then himself, but he was big enough to look ridiculous in a pair of pants that fit Cloud perfectly.

Cloud turned around with a few articles of clothing in his hands, only to come extremely close to Zack. As much as Zack was complaining about being cold Cloud could feel the warmth emanating from him. He looked up and locked eyes with Zack. A small tremor went though his body when he saw the burning desire in Zack's eyes.

"Uh...here...I hope they fit..." Cloud managed to get out, moving his arms upwards to offer the clothes to Zack. Zack didn't move for a while, before Cloud felt a tentative hand come to his waist.

Cloud quickly dropped the clothes he was holding, and crushed himself against Zack. Their lips met in a passionate lock, and Cloud couldn't help but moan slightly.

He pushed Zack back trying not to trip on the abandoned clothes, but failing at it. He stumbled and fell down on Zack, who thankfully fell down on Cloud's bed.

Cloud snorted slightly at how cliché all of this was before locking eyes with Zack.

"What's so funny?" Zack whispered, desire still in his eyes but was slightly covered by amusement.

"Nothing." Cloud muttered, while rearranging himself so he was straddling Zack. He moved in and started to kiss Zack again, nibbling slightly on his bottom lip.

Zack groaned, and wrapped his arms around Cloud's frame. Cloud started to move down Zack's neck, biting slightly on his way down to Zack's collar bone.

Cloud felt Zack tugging at the bottom of his shirt, and he sat up slightly, allowing Zack to sit up so he had a better chance of removing the wet garment. Only problem was it was still very wet, and wasn't going to come off without a fight. It started to stick when it reached his shoulders.

Cloud growled with frustration. He wanted to feel Zack's hands on skin, not on some wet cotton. Zack started to laugh slightly, when he heard the small angry growl.

"Lift your arms up." Zack said, and Cloud followed his direction. Soon the shirt slipped off, and was thrown down to the ground. Cloud used the position they were in to take Zack's shirt off as well, this time with fewer problems.

Zack reached out, and wrapped his arm around Cloud's waist, flipping Cloud down onto the mattress so he was over top of Cloud this time. He lowered himself so he was resting on top of Cloud, their bare skin touching. Zack's hands slid down Cloud's side, leaving goose bumps in his wake.

Zack started to lick the shell of Cloud's ear, and Cloud couldn't help but moan and arch up into Zack's touch. This was probably one of the most intense moments of Cloud's life. Sure, he had fooled around with Zack on many occasions, but it had never felt quite like this. There was a passion behind it all that threatened to completely consume Cloud if he wasn't careful.

But did he want to be careful? At the moment Cloud was ready and willing to let the passion take him over.

Cloud quickly came out of his daze when he felt Zack's hands travel down to his belt, and started to undo the clasp.

"...Zack?" Cloud sat up slightly, and watched Zack's hands stop what they were doing. He looked up and locked eyes with Zack.

"What are you doing?" he asked. It sounded stupid; he could clearly see that Zack wanted Cloud's pants off—now. So much for letting the passion consume him. It was starting to sink in what was really going on...was he ready for all of it?

"Hey, Cloud... if you don't want to, we don't have to." Zack cupped Cloud's cheek with one of his hands, and gave him a large warm smile. "Just remember that I love you, no matter what, okay?"

Cloud stopped breathing for a second. They had never said they loved each other. It was always implied that they did, but never had the words been actually said.

Zack seemed to understand what had just happened and started to blush. "Aw man, now you're gonna think I said that just to get in your pants...fuck." Zack slid off of Cloud, and sat down on the side of the bed, sighing heavily.

Cloud just sat there a moment, before he reached out and squeezed Zack's shoulder slightly. "No...I know you love me." Zack looked up and looked over his shoulder to see Cloud smiling back at him. "And I love you too."

Zack broke out into a huge grin, and turned around to give Cloud a huge hug. He kissed the top of Cloud's head before pulling back. "But hey, we still don't have to-you know- go any farther if you don't want-"

Zack was cut off when Cloud captured Zack's lips with his own. Now more then ever Cloud knew he was ready for this.

Cloud pulled Zack back down on him, and started to work at Zack's belt, quickly opening it and pulling the zipper down. Zack's pants soon came off with help from both he and Cloud. Cloud couldn't help but laugh when he saw the boxer's Zack had on. They were blue with small green frogs all over them.

"Well I like them." Zack chuckled, coming back down to kiss Cloud while he worked on getting Cloud's pants off as well.

Soon Cloud's pants had also come off, and Zack had wasted no time in stripping his boxers off as well. Now Cloud was bare to the world, and he couldn't help but want to try and cover up. He just stayed still though as Zack's eyes roamed over his form. Compared to Zack, Cloud felt like a small weak girl. He thought he was way to pale, unlike Zack who seemed to always have a natural tan, he didn't have enough defined muscle, unlike Zack who had a well toned chest, and strong sturdy arms (Cloud remembered Zack talking about how he did sit ups and push ups before he went to bed every night), and all in all Cloud felt rather meager and weak compared to the boy above him.

Cloud looked up at Zack and saw Zack's mouth was hanging open slightly. "Nice look..." Cloud managed to get out.

Zack shook his head slightly, and moved down towards Cloud. "You're so beautiful." Zack whispered over Cloud's lips, before moving in for a searing kiss. Cloud blushed slightly at the comment, but soon stopped thinking when Zack started to rock up against Cloud slightly, giving both boys much needed friction.

"To-much-fabric" Cloud growled out, and reached down towards Zack's boxers, tugging at the waste band pulling them off. Now it was Cloud's turn to admire Zack in his full glory.

Cloud tentatively touched Zack's chest, feeling the dips, and watching as Zack shuddered slightly under the touch, and how his muscles clenched and unclenched. His eyes traveled lower to see Zack's hard flesh and he let out a throaty moan.

Cloud pulled Zack back down on him, and shuddered at the skin to skin contact he was getting. Never had he felt so exposed, and yet so comfortable at the same time. Zack started to rock up against Cloud yet again, this time it felt a hundred times more intense.

Zack started to kiss down Cloud's neck, nudging Cloud's legs apart with his knee, and resting in between Cloud's legs. Zack licked the beads of sweat gathering at the place where Clouds neck met his shoulders.

All Cloud could do was run his hands up and down Zack's back, reveling in the feeling.

Zack started to work lower, and before Cloud realized what was happening, Zack had started to swirl his tongue around one of Cloud's nipples as his hands slowly slid up and down Cloud's thighs.

"Nugh...Zack...I don't know how much long...I will last." Cloud panted out. He was already wet with pre-cum, and he didn't know how much longer he would last. Zack was making him feel so good right now.

Zack let out a deep chuckle, and moved back up so he was looking into Cloud's eyes. "Do you have anything-you know, that I can prepare you with?"

Cloud coughed slightly. He knew the basics of sex with a man, but he knew he didn't have anything of which Zack was referring to.

"Uh..." Cloud looked around and spotted a bottle of lotion on his bedside table. He shifted slightly (sliding up Zack in a way that was most certainly pleasant) and grabbed the bottle. "Will this work?"

Zack rested his body on his one elbow and grabbed the bottle reading it. "It's not scented...so it should be good."

Cloud wasn't so sure about the 'should' in Zack's sentence but let it slide.

"This is going to feel really weird, and might hurt at first..." Zack said, squirting some of the lotion onto his fingers. His hand moved down, and Cloud felt a little pressure at his opening.

He took a deep breath and tried to relax. It wasn't everyday someone tried to put a finger in that place. When he had fully relaxed, he felt one of Zack's fingers enter him.

It didn't really hurt, but it certainly felt odd.

"You okay?" Zack asked, coming up and kissing Cloud on the cheek. Cloud nodded and squirmed slightly when Zack put in another finger, and started to move them in and out.

"Feels a little weird..." Cloud said, trying to relax.

Zack continued to kiss Cloud as the third finger was added. This time it hurt more then before, and Cloud let out a small yelp.

"Hey, it's okay right?" Zack asked, worry written across his face. He stopped sliding his fingers waiting for Cloud to gain some control.

"I'm okay, I swear." Cloud groaned out. When Zack started to move again, he moved his fingers slightly and hit a spot in Cloud that made his vision flash slightly. Cloud didn't know if the bright light was actually from the pleasure, or the lightning outside.

"Holy-guuuuh." Cloud groaned out. "Do that again."

Zack grinned and stroked the area again, earning himself another moan and a writhing body.

Zack withdrew his fingers, and reached for the bottle of lotion again, squirting a generous amount to his hand yet again. Cloud saw his hand reach down, and then come back up as Zack placed his arms on either side of Cloud's head.

"Are you ready? This is going to hurt more then the fingers..."

Cloud nodded, and grabbed onto Zack's shoulders, holding on for dear life. He felt the tip of Zack's arousal prod his entrance and Cloud couldn't help but clench.

"You're gonna have to relax, it will make things way easier." Zack whispered, putting butterfly kisses over Cloud's face, and stroking his sweaty hair from his face.

Cloud nodded and relaxed, while trying to concentrate on the kisses and the rain hitting the window. Zack started to move in, and Cloud hissed slightly but tried to relax.

It felt like he was getting ripped in two, by the time Zack was fully in him. Zack was shaking over him, trying to stop from rocking into Cloud to soon. Clearly this was more enjoyable for Zack then for Cloud at the moment.

Zack started to stroke Cloud's hair, and kissed the corner of Cloud's mouth. His arms came up around Cloud's waste, holding him strong and still against his chest.

Cloud whimpered slightly, and tried to adjust to the new feeling. He squirmed around, and felt Zack shake from desire, and the need to release. Soon the pain started to fade somewhat, and he nodded his head.

"Okay, go." He muttered, kissing Zack's neck.

Zack moved out slightly, and then pushed back in. The first few times Cloud had to hold back the tears. This really hurt. But soon the burning pain turned into that of pleasure as Zack change his position and started to hit that spot yet again.

" You feel so good." Zack groaned, burying his face into Cloud's shoulder and biting it slightly. Cloud just held onto Zack's shoulders, most likely creating bruises where his fingers were digging in.

It felt so good now, Cloud wasn't even sure this was all real. With Zack pounding into him and pressing him deep into the mattress and his throaty growls as he pulled out and pushed back in, Cloud wasn't surprised when he felt the tight heat coil in his stomach threaten to explode so soon.

" I think I'm going to come." Cloud whispered, and felt Zack move so his hand wrapped itself around Cloud's shaft, and started to stroke to the rhythm of his thrusts.

It didn't take long till Cloud's vision went fuzzy and the coil exploded. Cloud yelled out but was muffled by the sound of a large thunder clap.

Cloud felt Zack shudder soon after, and thought he could almost feel Zack come inside him. That was either very romantic, or a little gross. Cloud was too tired and satisfied to really think about it to much.

Zack pulled out of Cloud and then fell down beside Cloud, with a satisfied sigh. He made small, slow kissed on the side of Cloud's neck, and pulled Cloud close to him.

"That...was amazing." Zack muttered into Clouds neck. He kissed Clouds neck one last time before moving so his head was resting on top of Cloud's, and Cloud was curled up into his chest.

"Yeah..." was all Cloud could say as he listened to the rain slowly ease up. " I just hope my mom or Roxas doesn't come in soon..." Cloud muttered. He reached down and grabbed one of his blankets and brought it up, covering both him and Zack.

This was it. Cloud would think back on all the things in his life, and nothing would ever compare to right now. Just the feeling of Zack right beside him, his arms wrapped securely around him, the feeling of Zack's fingers slowly comb through his hair, and the sound of Zack's strong heartbeat. Cloud could die right now, and he would be happy.

That was until Cloud's mother decided to storm into his room, a plastic shopping bag in her hands and a grin on her face.

"Cloud, Look what I got you at-" She stopped mid yell, and stared for a moment. There was her son, curled up naked next to his 'good friend', their clothes discarded in different places around the room.

"Oh-sorry, didn't- I mean-you just stay-" She turned around quickly, slammed half of her body up against the door frame, backed up slightly to get out of the way of the wall and finally made it out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Shit!" Cloud growled out jumping up out of the bed and heading towards the door.

"Cloud!" Zack yelled out, watching his boyfriend make his way towards the door in a flurry of frantic movements. When Cloud didn't respond he tried again this time with a more direct approach. "Your pants!"

Cloud froze at the door handle and turned around slowly. "What?"

"I'm just saying you might want to put some pants on before you go after your mom." Zack was sitting up now and was pointing towards a discarded pair of jeans.

"That's…that's a good idea." Cloud muttered as he went over to his pants, putting them on quickly and thanking the heavens under his breath that Zack had reminded him of his naked situation. After getting his pants on and grabbing a shirt he ran towards the door, opening it in one quick motion, and almost running into his mother in the process.

"Whoa! Mom… don't… don't stand there!"

His mom turned around quickly to look at him. "Oh, I'm sorry." She said patting his arm slightly.

They stood there in an awkward silence for a moment before she spoke again. "So I think it's time we had 'the talk'."

Cloud looked at her with a confused expression for a moment before it sunk in. "Oh yeah…the talk."

"Did you-well are you on the pill? Wait no, no-that's not right, you're a boy…and Zack is a boy… oh my. You're both boys. I don't know what to say to boy sex."

Cloud groaned and rubbed his eyes. He was about to say something when his mother cut him off again. "Well I guess I should ask if he was the first… was he the first?"

Cloud nodded quickly. "Yes he was the first."

"That's good, that's good… was it his first time too? Because every time you have sex, you're having sex with all the people that person has had sex with!"

"Uh… I don't know mom, I think it was his first time too."

"Well let's hope he doesn't have any sexually transmitted diseases, or I guess they call it sexually transmitted infections now." She bit her bottom lip and looked around quickly. Cloud thought she was going to cry.

"But mom, I really like him. Wait no, I mean I really love him… I love him a lot. Mom? Are you okay?"

She looked up quickly at Cloud, tears in her eyes. "It's just my baby is growing up!" She rushed towards Cloud and gathered him into a bone crushing hug. "You're getting so old! At first it's 'oh little Cloud is tying his own shoes' and then next it's 'Cloud is having sex with his boyfriend!'"

Cloud wrapped his arms around her and slowly started to stroke her back. She always got so emotional. They stayed like that for a few moments before she pulled away to wipe away a few tears that had settled on her cheek.

"You better treat him well or hell will swallow you up and devour your soul, I will make sure of it." Cloud's eyes bugged out slightly at the statement and followed her gaze to see that Zack had slowly walked out of his room his hair a mess, with Cloud's dry extra cloths that had been discarded before, on. He scratched the back of his head, a sheepish smile on.

"I promise to love him until the day I die, scouts honor." Zack replied while putting a hand over his heart.

Quickly Cloud's mother rushed over to Zack and pulled him into a hug. "I always did like you."

Zack smiled and looked over at Cloud, a slightly confused expression on his face. Cloud just shook his head and coughed slightly hoping his mother would get the hint and unhook herself from Zack.

"Right, well then how about you come downstairs with me and I will make you both something to eat. God knows you will be hungry after doing what you two just did!" And with that she started down the hallway towards the stairs.

"Your mom's awesome." Zack said with a huge smile on as he headed down the hallway after Cloud's mother.

Cloud groaned and leaned up against a wall where he proceeded to hit his head against it numerous times.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Okay Mara, deep breath. This was the first sex chapter I have ever written! Since I wrote this I have written quite a few, but this was the very first one and I am so scared that it was to graphic for But I hope it wasn't because if this gets deleted I will be pretty pissed! Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed it. I was trying to get the whole 'Woots first time I love you and care about you' in the mix there, to show how close they have gotten. The last part with Cloud's mother I added a few weeks ago out of bordem. This fic is, after all, a comedy of sorts and this chapter just seemed a little to serious. But I digress. I hope you all enjoyed it and I love the reviews I get from you guys and I also must thank all the people who read this in general and those who favorite and watch this fic! All of you guys make my world! Oh, and this chapter goes out to my friend Logan who was having a bad day long ago and I said I would dedicate this chapter to him...because he's a perv! Love yah, Logan! 


	11. Chapter 11

Warnings: Language, Sexual situations, Yaoi (M/M)

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney, not me.

* * *

Cloud stared at himself in the mirror, fiddling with his hair and straightening his collar again and again. He heaved a heavy sigh and turned away from the mirror, letting himself fall down on his bed and stare up at the ceiling.

He started to shift around on his bed and growled in frustration before sitting back up and going back to the mirror to fiddle with his hair...again. Zack and Cloud were going out for lunch, and it was Zack's treat. He had only told Cloud to wear a 'somewhat put together look' and that he would come pick Cloud up around 11:30.

Now Cloud was standing in front of his mirror fussing over his look like a girl while glancing at his clock every so often. He decided to wear a teal coloured dress shirt and undid the first few buttons leaving it open at the top slightly. He was also wearing a pair of dark washed jeans. He was wearing his usual wolf earring in the left ear mostly because he always wore it, and also because Zack told him he thought it made him look sexy.

Cloud groaned, thinking about how he wanted to look 'sexy' for Zack. Man he was turning into such a chic.

"Cloud, Zack's here!"

Cloud looked at the door when he heard his mother yelling up the stairs and rolled his eyes. If only his mom hadn't answered the door. She didn't know that Zack was taking Cloud out for lunch, and as soon as she learned about this he just knew she was going to start gushing over how sweet it was. It also didn't help that Cloud felt very uncomfortable around his mother ever since they had 'the talk'.

He made one last frantic attempt to calm his spiky hair and only ended up making it stick up even more. Growling in frustration he grabbed his wallet off his dresser and headed out of his room and down the hallway. He thought it best to intercept any long term conversations between Zack and his mother, so he ran down the stairs skipping a few steps before jumping down to land beside his mother and in front of Zack.

Zack looked amazing. He was wearing a dark red shirt and had also unbuttoned a few buttons. He was wearing an assortment of silver and stone necklaces that really brought out his sharp, defined collar bone and Cloud really wanted nothing more then to be able to lick and nip his way across Zack's chest. He shook his head quickly and coughed. He really didn't want to think about that while standing beside his mother. Cloud glanced down to notice the very well fitted black pants Zack also happened to have on. Where did Zack learn to dress so well?

"Hey." Cloud breathed out stuffing his wallet into his pocket, slowly coming out of his daze and directing his gaze back to Zack's face.

"Hey spiky!" Zack said, walking forward slightly to kiss Cloud on the cheek. Cloud turned a dark shade of red and glanced at his mother, who thankfully pretended not to pay attention to what was going on.

"Shall we go?" Cloud asked, hoping to leave as soon as possible.

"I think we shall!" Zack grabbed Cloud's hand and opened the front door. "Don't worry Ms. Strife; I will bring your son back in his regular clothes, and in a sober state!"

"I don't doubt it. Now you two have fun!" Clouds mom smiled, holding the door open for the two of them as they made their way outside, with Cloud grabbing his jacket off the coat hook.

"So, you excited?" Zack asked, swaying about on the walkway as they headed towards Zack's parents car that he had managed to borrow for the day. He let go of Cloud's hand as Cloud wrestled with his jacket sleeves trying to get his jacket on.

"I think I would be a lot more excited if I knew where you were taking me." Cloud replied finally getting his jacket on. "Are you going to tell me, or do I have to wait?"

"I think you can wait ten more minutes, don't you?" Zack unlocked the car and opened his door, winking at Cloud before getting in.

Cloud opened his door as well and sat down in Zack's parent's car, shivering slightly. "Aren't you cold?" Cloud asked glancing over at Zack noticing he didn't have a jacket with him and was just wearing his _very _appealing shirt. Memories of Zack pressing him down into the mattress assaulted his mind and he turned bright red before looking out the window. Did that shirt have some special ' I want to jump my boyfriend _now_' magnet on it?

"If I had a jacket on it would just cover up my shirt. Don't think I haven't seen you giving me those looks." Zack gazed over at Cloud giving him a somewhat heated look before grinning like a mad man and starting the car. "I know you think I'm sexy."

Cloud rolled his eyes and rested his head against the window as they started to drive away heading in what Cloud presumed was a downtown location. The drive wasn't to long and consisted of Cloud thinking about where they were going, and Zack playing around with the radio complaining of a lack of good stations.

When they finally got to their destination, Zack parked a little ways down the street and got out of the car, winking at Cloud whilst doing so. Cloud narrowed his eyes and slowly got out of the car. He was very suspicious. Not that he didn't trust Zack…well actually when it came to certain things he trusted Zack about as far as he could throw him.

Zack walked over to Cloud, wrapping and arm around his waist as they started down the street. Zack had a small smile on his face and kept looking over at Cloud, his smile getting bigger every time. Cloud started to loosen up after a while though. The smile he was getting was one that seemed to be full of excitement and love. If Zack was planning on pantsing Cloud in the middle of the street he didn't really think Zack would have that look in his eyes.

"Well, here we are!" Zack stopped walking and tossed his hands up in the air in the general direction of a building.

"Shit, Zack…" Cloud looked at the building, reading the sign. Zack just happened to take him to one of the most expensive restaurants in the city.

"You don't like it?" Zack's face quickly fell and he started to shuffle his feet around.

"What? No it's not that it's just…it's so expensive!"

Zack's face lit up again and he reached for Cloud's hand, dragging Cloud along with him towards the doors. "Don't worry about the cost, okay? It's my treat!"

Cloud started to utter reasons as to why Zack shouldn't be going out of his way for Cloud like this, but all his protest went unnoticed.

"Hello there! How can I help you today?" A young woman asked as they entered the door.

"Hi, I have a reservation for two. It should be under Fair."

The woman smiled at the two, and didn't even bat an eyelash when she noticed Zack and Cloud were holding hands. Well that was kind of nice.

She led them to a table for two near the back of the restaurant and placed the menus down on the table. Zack pulled out Cloud's chair, making Cloud blush and turn his head down, looking at his plate as he sat down. He watched as Zack went to his own chair, smiling at the two older women sitting close to them before sitting down.

"So your waiter will be with you in just a moment! I hope you enjoy your meal!" And with that, the young lady went back to the front doors with a cheery smile on.

"So…what do you think?" Zack asked grinning at Cloud from across the table as Cloud took off his jacket.

"It's really nice, Zack. But can I ask you one thing?"

Zack leaned back in his chair nodding. "Ask away!"

"Why?" Cloud asked looking at Zack intently. "You know I am perfectly fine eating a hot dog…" He stopped himself from continuing that sentence and coughed slightly turning away from Zack.

"Oh, a hot dog you say? I think we can arrange that for later." Zack replied, cocking his head to the side, a grin on his face.

"Zack," Cloud hissed, leaning forward on the table. "Other people can hear you!" Cloud looked quickly over at the two older ladies sitting near them.

"Sorry, sorry. That was rude." Zack stated, lifting his hands up in surrender. "But just, don't freak out over this okay? I mean is it so wrong to want to take your boyfriend out for lunch?"

Cloud thought about it for a moment, looking at the sincere look on Zack's face. "I guess not... it's just I feel bad about it. I want to do something for you too!"

"Hey, taking you out for lunch and spending the day with you is all I need. So open up your menu and see what looks good."

Cloud nodded slowly and looked down at his menu and opened it up before Zack quickly reached across the table, slamming his hand down on the menu. "Don't look at the prices okay? Just...don't! Please! If you do...uh... no sex ever again!"

Clouds arched his eyebrow and gave Zack a confused smile. "Uh...okay? Why?"

"I am afraid that if you look at the prices you will freak out again, or you might just order the cheapest thing."

Cloud nodded slowly and opened up the menu making sure not to glance at the prices. It was pretty hard to do seeing as how Zack pointed it out now. But Zack asked him not to, so he wouldn't.

They made small talk for a while until their waiter came by to take their orders. After that, Cloud just stared at the flower vase in the middle of the table, not really thinking of anything until something slipped out of his mouth.

"Did you and Aerith ever have sex?" Cloud could have slammed his head down on the table at that moment. Instead he tried to justify his question. "I mean, not that I want to put you and Aerith on the spot, just Aerith might have an STI, WAIT! NO! I didn't mean that!" Cloud was ready to bolt out of his chair and run away after he looked at Zack's shocked face. "I'm sorry! You don't have to answer that."

Zack's chuckled slightly, and started to play with his fork. "Hey, don't worry about it. I know you don't mean what you just said. Your just curious to know how serious Aerith and I were, right?" When Cloud nodded Zack continued. "Well, to answer your question, yes, she and I did have sex. But only once. Things didn't really...work out."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Aerith and I really love each other and nothing will change that. It's just when it came time for the next step, things went...okay? We carried through with it but both of us lacked the passion behind it, which is weird seeing as how we love each other... but it just didn't work. Does that make sense? Things were different with you. I love you so much and I feel so much passion behind that love as well."

Cloud blushed and smiled a shy little smile. He stared down at his plate letting the new information sink in before asking another question. "So...if the whole sex thing didn't work out...did you still date? Sounds like you broke up after Aerith left to live in the country."

"Oh we stayed together...kind of. I mean yeah we weren't very sexual with each other but we still liked to hang out with. We kinda acted as friends...who called each other boyfriend and girlfriend."

After Zack let all of this person information out, Cloud thought it best that he say something now.

"Tifa's breasts intimidated me." Cloud said, looking Zack strait in the eyes. Zack's face showed no emotion for a while, he just stared blankly back at Cloud. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Zack finally showed some emotion.

"HAHA!" Zack started to laugh and quickly place his hinds in front of his mouth when the older women beside them sent him a nasty glare.

"What, you've seen them! I mean… they are just so big and every time she hugged me or tried to get close to me I would freak out."

Zack kept his hands in front of his mouth before he was sure he gained enough control to pull his hands away and not bust out laughing. "I know they are big, Cloudy, but you don't have to be afraid of them!"

Cloud scrunched up his face and glared at Zack. "Shut up. Besides, I prefer your chest…" He blushed, but looked Zack in the eyes.

Zack reached across and grabbed Cloud's hand, massaging it much like he did when they were studying at the kitchen table so long ago. "You are so gay." He stated simply, smiling.

Cloud gave Zack an offended look. "Yeah, well you are too!" He shot back.

"Only for you, babe, only for you…. And some other hot guys but we won't get into that. I mean, I am married to Reno."

Cloud gave Zack a confused look. Married to Reno? How the hell was he married to Reno? "What do you mean by that?"

Zack laughed and let go of Cloud's hand as their waiter came back with their food. After setting the food down and leaving them, Zack started to explain.

"Back when we were six, Reno and I thought it would be cool to be blood brothers. You know, when cut yourself and mix your blood together and possibly transfer diseases? Anyways, Aerith was with us when we planned it all and thought it would be cute to have a ceremony and everything. So all the kids in the neighborhood came and Aerith even found some wedding vows and made us say it to each other. So in a weird messed up way I am married to Reno… in a very messed up non-legal way. That doesn't stop Reno from using it against me every so often though."

Cloud smiled the while time Zack told him this story. He wished that he had some crazy stories from when he was a kid. He was a pretty closed off kid and preferred to read comic books in the backyard then get married to Vincent in front of all the neighborhood kids. "Sounds like you had an interesting childhood." Cloud said, reaching for his glass and taking a sip of water.

Zack nodded slowly and seemed to be starring off into space. "Yeah… I wish I could go back to those days sometimes…" Cloud was getting a little worried when Zack stopped talking for so long, but just as soon as he was about to say something Zack spoke up again, re-igniting the conversation.

* * *

They spent the rest of the meal talking about life in general, as well as sex, which Zack brought up just to bother the women next to them who seemed displeased with having to sit beside two 'homosexuals'.

"My god, did you see the look on her face when you talked about getting flavored lube?!" Zack was clutching the side of his parent's car, trying to stay upright while Cloud leaned up against the side, watching Zack with slight amusement.

"Yeah, well they deserved to hear it." Cloud said, stuffing his hands in his coat pocket.

Zack nodded in agreement, and wiped away a few tears that had occurred from all the laughing. "I just wasn't expecting you to actually say something like that, especially in a public place!"

Cloud smiled, and pulled Zack towards him, giving Zack a passionate kiss. He pulled away after Zack wrapped his arms around him. "I'm just full of surprises."

Zack grinned and nodded. "That you are." He went down for another kiss, and Cloud was more then willing to partake in the public make out session. Sure people were looking, but Cloud really didn't care. He had wanted to kiss Zack like this all day, and denying it any longer might cause him to burst.

Oh to be a randy teenager.

When Zack pulled away, Cloud smiled up at Zack, trying to look confident in what he was going to say. "Do you wanna come over to my house for the night? Like sleepover. I mean we could watch movies and… and… uh… sleep?"

Real suave Cloud.

Zack nodded his head and ruffled Cloud's hair. "I would love to! But first I have to go home and grab a few things."

Cloud nodded and moved to get into the car while Zack went around the vehicle to open his door. The ride back to Zack's place was calm and quiet, and Cloud almost fell asleep in the car.

"You can come in for a bit if you want. I shouldn't be to long." Zack stated, taking the keys out of the ignition and turned to face Cloud. Cloud nodded groggily and undid he seatbelt and opened the door, stepping out. He then followed Zack up the walkway and into the house.

Zack's house was a one story bungalow with a cheery atmosphere to it. It was smaller then Cloud's house filled with a lot of love. He followed Zack down the hallway to his room and stood at the doorway as Zack rummaged around in his room, throwing things into a bag. Cloud could swear he saw Zack throw a small bottle of sorts in the bag, and had a pretty good idea what it was.

"I'm going to go say bye to my mom okay? My Dad's out somewhere…I think."

Zack made his way down the hallway to the kitchen and Cloud slowly walked down the hallway, looking at the pictures adorning the walls. He was fairly content with just waiting, but when he heard Zack's mother's voice rise slightly, he couldn't help but listen in.

"-I just don't think its fair to him!" Cloud hear Zack's mother say, exasperation in her tone.

"Yeah, well he and I are happy together, can't you just let us be?" Zack asked, and it sounded like he was pleading.

"But Zack, honey, think of your current position and then think about what you are doing right now."

"My current position?! My current position! Mom, what exactly is my 'current position'? Is it the fact that I am-"

Anything Zack might have said was cut off by Zack's Dad storming into the house, groceries in his hands.

"Oh, hey Cloud! How are you?" He asked, smiling at Cloud and walking into the kitchen, motioning for Cloud to follow.

"Uh, I am good sir, thanks for asking." Cloud slowly followed behind and walked into the kitchen to see Zack standing by the table awkwardly. His mother was resting against the counter, her arms across her chest and her lips pursed slightly. She looked pretty upset, not angry, but worried and a little sad.

Zack's dad didn't seem to really pay attention to what kind of atmosphere he had walked into, or if he did, he chose to ignore it.

"I'm going over to Cloud's for the night." Zack told his father looking him straight in the eyes.

His father smiled a big smile and nodded. "Have fun then! Don't stay up to late watching horror movies." Of course Mr. Fair knew about his son's relationship with Cloud, but he seemed to nod it off as nothing. He seemed to just think of them as good friends, and that was that.

Zack nodded slightly and walked over to his mom, who pulled him into a hug. "Sorry mom." Cloud could hear Zack whisper.

They pulled away and she gave him a kiss on the cheek before waving them off. Cloud smiled at her as they made eye contact and then shuffled out of the door to follow Zack.

* * *

Cloud lay in his bed, running his fingers through Zack's hair. Zack was fast asleep, and his head was currently resting on Cloud's chest. Cloud stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought and sighed slightly, causing Zack to shift in his sleep. Cloud really just wanted to curl up and sleep as well, especially after just having mind blowing sex, but it didn't seem likely to happen anytime soon.

It was strange to hear Zack take that tone with someone, especially his mother. He was always patient and easy going, yet when his relationship with Cloud was brought up he started to get all defensive.

'_Your current position'_

That line kept running through his head, and was what was keeping him up at the moment. What did Zack's mom mean by that, and more importantly, why did Zack get so upset about it.

"Zack….Zack…." Cloud reached down to shake Zack's shoulder, trying to get him to wake up. Zack lifted his head slightly and turned his head a little to look at Cloud.

"Wha?" He slurred out, his voice thick with sleep.

"Uh, I kinda overheard your conversation with your mom today and…and does she not like us together?"

Zack rolled off Cloud's chest and stuffed his face in the pillow beside Clouds head. "She likes you a lot…and she likes me a lot…and she likes cake." Zack muttered into the pillow.

Cloud nodded slowly and decided that talking about this when Zack was asleep probably wasn't the best idea.

He would just let it go. It was a conversation he wasn't even supposed to hear. It was probably just a situation about school. Zack had talked about going to school in another city and that was probably the issue. Or, you know, Zack could always be an alien.

With that thought in mind he let himself be tugged up against Zack' chest, and snuggled in close when he felt Zack lean his forehead against his neck, and let sleep overtake him.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Pah! I wrote this chapter on Friday night at two in the morning. I had finished my fanfiction, well I thought I did, but then I relaized that Cloud and Zack had never gone on an official date, so I decided to add it in...as well as the convo with Zack and his mother! Whats going on with Zack you ask? You gotta keep reading to find out! Anywho's, I hope you enjoyed this chapter I am sure I had fun writing it but I can't really remember what with the lack of sleep and such! Oh, and this chapter goes out to the lovel **DamagedWorth** 3 Love yah hun! And I hope that things work out for you, I know you were pretty scared last week! 


	12. Chapter 12

Warnings: Language, Sexual situations, Yaoi (M/M)

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney, not me.

* * *

"Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since there's no place to go, let it sn-"

"Would you please stop singing?"

Roxas stopped mid song, and glanced over his shoulder to see a disgruntled Cloud starring at the table, his eyes slightly glazed over.

"Uh, you okay Cloud?" Roxas asked, discarding the cookies he was placing in a Christmas decorated tin, and leaned up against the counter, facing Cloud head on.

Cloud ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I haven't thought of what to get Zack for Christmas."

"Oh...that's bad." Roxas shrugged and pushed himself up so he was now sitting upon the counter. "Have any general ideas?"

Cloud simply shook his head from side to side. "Nothing seems right. I want to get him something special."

"Ha, you sound like such a girl-" Cloud shot Roxas a glare but Roxas didn't pay attention "-just get him something he really wants, like a CD or something... heeey, you could make him a mixed CD! You know, put some songs he likes on it, and some songs that you think he would like."

Cloud put his head down on the table and sighed. "That's kinda lame... I bet Zack is having an easier time of this."

Roxas just hopped down from the counter and went back to putting the sugar cookies away.

* * *

Zack skipped down the street, humming a jaunty tune and waving at random people on his way to his destination. He got a few- well actually, a lot- of confused and possibly scared looks from random passersby, but Zack paid them no attention. He was a man on a mission, and a very happy one at that!

Zack turned a corner, and stopped suddenly in front of a store, and his grin became even bigger.

"Three weeks of waiting, and it's finally ready!" Zack exclaimed, reaching for the door handle.

Unfortunately someone grabbed out for Zack's hand and prevented him from opening the door. Zack glanced up and glared at the person who had so rudely stopped him from his 'very important mission' only to see a grinning Reno standing beside him, a firm grip on his hand.

"Just the person I was looking for!"

Zack pulled his hand away and looked at Reno quizzically. "I know you love me Reno, but you gotta stop stalking me."

Reno rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around Zack's shoulder guiding him away from the store. "I have the best thing to show you."

Zack tried to get away from Reno's grip, groaning in frustration. "Can't it wait? I have to go get Cloud's Christmas present!"

Reno simply shook his head and kept walking with Zack under firm control. "Trust me, this will be so worth it!"

Reno led them far away from the store and through a few back alleys, until they arrived behind a small convenient store.

"Go up to the wall and lean against it and make sure you can't see anything behind you." Reno instructed pushing Zack towards the wall.

Zack slowly walked over to the wall, not sure if he really wanted to do what Reno was telling him to do. "Again I say: I know you love me, but having sex with me against a convenient store's back alley wall isn't going keep me with you for long. It is kinda kinky though." Zack waggled his ass slightly, and leaned up against the wall, just hoping Reno wasn't really going to do what he thought he was.

"Don't flatter yourself." Reno shot back, walking away for a moment.

Zack could hear some scrapping on pavement, a few curse words, and what sounded like empty milk jugs.

"This had better be worth it! If I don't get Cloud's gift today, I can't give it to him until _after _Christmas, which totally defeats the purpose of a _Christmas_ gift!"

Zack heard footsteps come towards him and felt Reno press himself up against his back. "You can turn around now." Reno whispered into Zack's ear whilst running a hand down Zack's chest to linger at his belt clasp. Reno stayed there for a moment before laughing and pulling away from Zack, smacking his ass in the process.

Zack whipped around quickly. "If Cloud finds out what you jus- Holy crap."

There, in a large pile, were garbage bags full of creepy Santa Clause decorations in multiple sizes and all with equally creepy expressions on there faces.

"They're gonna eat me...aren't they?" Was all Zack could say.

* * *

"How about... a gift card? That way he can get what he wants and you don't have to guess."

Cloud stuffed his face into his pillow and mumbled into the phone. "You know that won't work Tifa...I said I wanted something that would mean something..."

He could hear Tifa mutter something about how he was being difficult right now, but Cloud chose to ignore it.

"Why not just do what Roxas suggested and make him a mixed CD! I think that's a cute idea!"

"More like a lame idea!" Cloud said, lifting his head from his pillow.

"My god, is someone being a right bitch today. How about you think of something on your own then!"

Cloud was about to apologize when he heard Tifa slam the phone down on the receiver.

"...Fuck..."

* * *

"This is going to be so awesome! He hates Santa ever since he learnt he comes into your home while you sleep! Thought it was a complete invasion of privacy." Zack was helping Reno stuff the garbage bagged Santa's into the back of Reno's car, grinning from ear to ear. " Hey...wait."

Zack stopped pushing in one of the bags and looked at Reno. It had just occurred to him that Reno hadn't told him where he got all of these decorations.

"What?" Reno grunted out, trying to close the trunk.

"Where the hell did you get all these Santa's?"

Reno finally got the trunk closed and turned to Zack. "My Dad took me on a drive in his new car and we went out of the city and passed a crazy guys house. He was having a garage sale and was selling all his Santa's...it was kinda weird."

Zack nodded in agreement. "So we gonna wait till it's dark to do this, right? That way we know he will be home, but he most likely won't be looking outside until he has to go for self defense lessons."

"Right-o! Man, he is gonna flip when he sees this! He hates it when things stare at him."

Zack chuckled slightly, thinking about what the reaction to the prank would be like. "Well I gotta go pick up that present, but I will see you at your place at eight!"

Zack started towards the main street, leaving Reno to figure out how he was going to drive in a car overflowing with plastic chubby men in red suits.

Zack was making good speed, and wasn't going to let anything prevent him from getting the gift now. He had it specially made, and was really excited to see how it turned out. He just hoped Cloud liked it.

He quickly made it to the store and was, again, going to open the door when his vision was shrouded by white, red, and green.

"HO HO HO! What's this young man doing today? Shopping for his girlfriend?"

Zack backed away slightly to get a better view, only to see an aging man in a Santa suit with a disgruntled fourteen year old dressed as an elf, holding a sack full of small, broken candy canes.

"Wow, Santa, you gave me quiet the fright! As a matter of fact I am shopping and have somewhere to go-"

Apparently Santa was hard of hearing because he didn't seem to pay attention to anything Zack was saying except for the word 'shopping'.

"Shopping you say?! Well then, how about I give you this!" The man dug around in his own, smaller pack and pulled out coupon with a cheesy happy couple on it. " One free couples massage! Take your girlfriend with you, and enjoy all the wonder's these special massage therapists have to offer. "

Zack tried not to look slightly disgusted when the man winked at him. The man thrust the coupon and a candy cane into Zack's hand, and pat him on the back a few times. "You enjoy that now, yah hear?"

Zack nodded and stuffed the contents into his pockets. "Yeah I'm sure my boyfriend and I will really enjoy it, but personally I prefer the massages he gives. Now if you happened to have a coupon for some body oil, then I might consider it using it!"

The look he got from that comment was worth the whole conversation before and then some. The Santa's eyes bugged slightly and he turned a shade of red Zack had only thought came in a can at a paint store, meanwhile the fourteen year old blushed and started to giggle.

"Happy Holidays!" Zack yelled behind his shoulder as he walked toward the entrance...

And proceeded to slam his face into the door.

"...you have got to be kidding me." The store was closed.

* * *

Cloud sat on his mom's bed, his legs crossed and a bored expression on his face as his mother went on about one Christmas she had that she would never forget. To bad Cloud had already forgotten most of it.

"- And then the turkey came back into the house, and started to eat the stuffing we had made before hand! That's the last time my Dad bought 'fresh' turkey." His mother chuckled slightly and continued to fold the launder.

"So what did you come in here to ask again?"

Cloud took this as his cue to talk. "I haven't decided what to get Zack, and I was wondering if you can help me think of something."

"What?! Christmas is only three days away! This is the last shopping day you have and you aren't out there shopping like crazy?"

Cloud glared slightly at his mother. "Don't think I haven't been counting down the minutes until this day is over."

"Huh...well I remember one year- this was before your father turned into an ass by the way- your father made me my gift! He got a collection of songs he liked and made me a mixed tape."

Cloud was incredibly close to exploding right then and there. Instead he shrugged it off as best he could and kept his voice under control. "Why does everyone keep telling me to make a mixed CD?"

His mother stopped putting the launder away and came and sat down on the bed beside Cloud, grabbing one of his hands and holding it in her smaller one. "First, I suggested a mixed tape, and secondly, music is a beautiful way of evoking emotion in people. It can make us sad, happy, angry, excited, it can make us want to dance or it can make us sleep. It has the power to remind us of the important things in life. Haven't you ever heard a song, and thought of a certain thing, or a certain person while listening to it? You can convey a lot of what you're feeling just through a single song."

Cloud scrunched his face up slightly. It was odd when his mother got all serious and philosophical. But what she had to say did make sense to him.

"It's either that or you could do what I did one year. I dressed up as a sexy Christmas elf and-"

"MOM! NO!" Cloud shot up from the bed and pointed at her in an accusing matter. " Just-no-to much information!"

And with that Cloud stormed out of the room, leaving his mother who had laughed herself to tears at that point.

* * *

Zack was screwed.

S-C-R-E-W-E-D.

"With a capital 'S'" Zack whispered, leaning up against the glass door. "Stupid Santa, with his stupid coupon and his stupid candy- wait...I have a candy cane!"

Zack dug into his pocket and pulled out the candy cane. "Oh sugary goodness that might be tampered with, what should I do?"

Zack probably thought he looked like a complete idiot, leaning against a store door whilst talking to a candy cane. He was going to open the wrapper and eat the possibly drug injected candy cane when his hand slipped off the wrapper causing Zack to drop the candy.

"Son of a-" Zack muttered, kneeling down to pick up the candy cane. As he was doing so he looked into the store, and noticed a very pretty girl walking towards the door. She was holding a wash cloth in one hand and a window cleaner in the other, with a confused look on her face.

Zack shot upwards and hit the door a few times, a big grin on his face.

The girl slowly walked towards the door, and opened it slightly with a weary look on her face. "Can I help you?"

"YES! Oh my god, you are like a special Christmas angel come down from the north pole to help me in my quest- Hey wait don't close the door!"

The girl had started to close the door right after Zack had started his speech, fear in her eyes.

"I didn't meant to scare you, it's just I came here to pick up a really important gift for someone, but I came to late! See, I got here fairly early but then I was dragged away and almost raped! But then I got out of that, only to be confronted by a Santa that really wanted to eat me and one that really wanted me to get a massage! Anyways, I just really need to pick up something ...do you think you can help me?" Zack sent her his best puppy dog look, hoping she would take the bait.

"Uh... I don't know, my Dad runs the store I only work here to help him out, so I don't really have full authority on this."

"I already paid for it though, I just need to pick it up! My name should be in the database! It's Zack Fair, look it up if you don't believe me!"

The girl stuck her finger up to signal 'one second' and shut the door in Zack's face. He watched her go to the computer on the desk and punch in a few numbers and codes. Her eyes scanned the computer screen and occasionally shot up to look at Zack.

She soon came back to the door, a small smile on her face. "So your the one that ordered that." She spoke, sending Zack a warm smile. She opened the door more and let Zack in. Zack could have kissed the girl.

"It's in the back, I will go and get it."

Zack wandered around the main room and looked at all the display cases, admiring certain pieces until the girl scuttled back into the room, a small box in her hands. She opened the case and let Zack look at it.

Zack smiled and nodded. "It's perfect."

"Whomever you got this for must be pretty special if you went through all this trouble to get it." The girl said, digging around in the stack of papers and pulling out a sheet for Zack to sign.

"He means the world to me." Zack replied, signing the paper, and taking the small bag the girl handed to him."Thank you so much."

"It's no problem. Just don't hang around stores talking to candy canes and creepy Santa's anymore, okay?"

* * *

"Be over here at Seph's in five minutes!" Zack spoke into the phone.

"I'll try..." Cloud replied, sounding a little confused. "What's this all about anyways?"

"You'll see, now come on!" Zack hung up then, and scuttled over to Reno, crouching down beside him. "He's coming."

"Awesome."

Reno was playing around with some wires, a determined look on his face. "So if all goes according to plan, if I connect these two wires, we should have ourselves light!"

"Where did you learn how to wire things like that?" Zack asked.

"Rude taught me, and don't ask where he learnt it because I couldn't tell you."

They waited in the dark for a few moments longer until Zack saw a familiar person heading up the street, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets a suspicious look on his face.

"What are you-" Cloud began to shout down the street but quickly shut up when he saw the frantic hand movements Zack and Reno were making. Zack hurriedly signaled for Cloud to come towards them.

Cloud walked up, glancing at Sephiroth's front lawn ever once in a while. "What's going on?" He asked when he was close enough.

"You'll see." Reno said, never taking his eyes off Sephiroth's front door.

"He's opening the door!" Zack almost shouted, excitement evident in his voice.

Reno quickly placed the two wires together as Sephiroth opened the door. The entire front lawn was suddenly showered in a bright white light, and small buzzing sounds could be heard.

Every single creepy Santa was placed so they were starring right at Sephiroth as he left his house. Some waved back and forth, other's did what was once a dance and had turned into a jerk of plastic and wires, while other's warbled out ' Ho Ho Ho's' and ' Merry Christmas'.

Cloud only saw the back's of all the Santa's and it creeped him out, he couldn't imagine what it would be like to be facing all of them.

Sephiroth seemed unable to move for a moment, his eyes wide as his one hand seemed to move like he was reaching for an invisible sword on his side.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Reno and Zack yelled at the same time, jumping out of the shadows and into view.

Sephiroth looked up at them and glared slightly. He slowly made his way through the Santa's never taking his eyes off the two boys.

"You know I hate Santa." Sephiroth stated, standing in front of the two.

"Uh... It wasn't my idea." Zack said shoving Reno towards Sephiroth and taking off towards Cloud. "Sorry mate, but that's what you get for feeling me up in an alleyway!"

Zack grabbed Cloud's hand and headed towards a tree nearby, climbing up the trunk and onto a branch, and waited for Cloud to follow.

"Do you think a tree will stop Sephiroth from getting to you?" Cloud asked, as he seated himself beside Zack and looked down on Sephiroth's glowing lawn. Seems like Reno wasn't going to go down without a fight. Well if you call running away fighting.

"If we go to far we won't get to see all the action!" Zack stated. There was a slight pause in the conversation as Zack shuffled around and Reno was finally caught and put into a choke hold.

Zack made a frustrated sound and quickly pulled something out of his coat pocket. "Here." Zack said pushing the small case and a piece of paper into Cloud's hand. "I know it isn't Christmas, but I couldn't wait to give it to you."

"... a free massage?" Cloud asked, looking at the piece of paper.

Zack quickly grabbed for it, a grin on his face. "Uh, that wasn't suppose to be there."

Cloud gave Zack a look and continued to open the small case.

Inside was a small necklace pendant of a ankh. It was made of silver, and at the base of the ankh lay a small blue stone.

"The stone is Agate, and the ankh itself is just silver. In ancient Egypt the Ankh represents life...and the stone I had them add reminds me of the sky, and how, when I'm with you I feel like I can fly if I wanted to," When Cloud didn't say anything Zack continued. "You know if you don't like it I can always return it, and get you somethin-"

"No." Cloud said, tentatively touching the stone. "It's amazing...I love it."

Zack breathed a sigh of relief.

Cloud shut the case, and put it safely into his pocket. He then turned slightly to Zack and closed the distance between them. When they pulled apart Cloud held onto Zack and pulled him into a hug, burying his face into his shoulder.

"That's the nicest thing someone has ever gotten me. It even beats the N64 I got when I was little from my Grandma."

Zack chuckled slightly, and kept his hold on Cloud. In the background Reno's cried of 'Uncle' went unheard.

"I got you something too, and I have it with me." Cloud said as he pulled away from Zack's embrace to reach into his pocket. "Close your eyes and hold out your hand."

Zack did was he was told and soon felt a slight weight in his hands. " Okay you can open them" he heard Cloud whisper. Zack opened his eyes and his gaze fell on a small MP3 player.

"I hope you don't mind that it's open, but I wanted to fill it up with songs that I thought you would like, as well as songs that remind me of us."

Zack broke out into a huge grin and kissed Cloud's forehead. "That's to cute! I love it, and I can't wait to listen to it!"

Cloud beamed and grabbed Zack's empty hand squeezing it slightly. He gazed down at the decorated lawn, kicking his feet slightly. "Merry Christmas Zack."

"Merry Christmas Cloud."

* * *

**Authors Note:** Okay, so this probably is one of my favorite chapters. I think it's because we follow Zack around, plus the fact that it's filled with random-ness. Also, it's Christmas based and I love Christmas! I didn't get as many reviews as I usually do on my last chapter and that made me a little sad... but I don't really like to ask for reviews so I wont ask now... but I will hint! But just so you guys know, I really appreciate them and they make my day when you guys give me feedback! But thanks for all those who read the story, favorite it, watch it, and for those who review! I love you all! 


	13. Chapter 13

Warnings: Language, Sexual situations, Yaoi (M/M)

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney, not me.

* * *

Cloud woke up to a heavy weight on his side, but passed it off as nothing. He was after all sleeping in Zack's room, and Zack had a tendency to grab and pull Cloud into a death grip, just this time it felt more like Zack was lying on top of Cloud with his elbows digging into his side.

But Cloud chose to ignore it, and instead buried his head farther into the pillow, whilst pulling the soft comforter closer around himself.

He was just glad that he actually remembered where he was. He had a tendency to completely forget where he was when he woke-up. He had freaked Zack out a little the first time he had slept over by pushing him out of the bed. But now Cloud knew where he was, he just had to remember what happened last night. It was New Years day, so last night was New Years Eve. Reno was having a small get together, which surprisingly turned out to be a small get together. Only a few people were invited, and Cloud found himself enjoying the whole evening.

Reno had ended up drinking a little too much and kept everyone entertained with his tales of when he used to be a pirate. Cloud stayed away from all alcoholic beverages not wishing to replay Halloween, and simply enjoyed talking with Aerith who had come down to the city to visit everyone for the holidays.

Aerith wanted all the details as to how Cloud and Zack finally got together, and gave Cloud an appraising look when he told her he had kissed Zack first. Of course Aerith knew all of this from Zack, but Cloud guessed she wanted to hear it from him rather then Zack who tended to make things larger and grander then they actually were.

After the countdown happened, Cloud went back with Zack to his place. His parents had gone to visit his mother's sister, and would be away for a week. So after they got home they...

Cloud shifted slightly and felt a dull ache down there.

Oh yeah, that's what they did.

Cloud tried to go back to sleep after gathering all his thoughts, but his side was really starting to hurt. Zack must be awake and was just trying to wake Cloud up in one of the most annoying way's possible, and it was working.

"Zack can you please just--" Cloud began but was quickly stopped talking when he finally opened his eyes to see what was bothering him so much.

He came face to face with a large, very happy, and very heavy white dog.

Cloud blinked a few times, trying to process what he was seeing. In his half asleep mind, the only thing he could come up with was the fact that Zack had turned into a dog. Yes, that made perfect sense.

"...Zack?" Cloud tentatively croaked out, eying the white beast.

The dog suddenly let out a loud bark, making Cloud cringe slightly. Not a sound you wanted to hear first thing in the morning.

Suddenly heavy footsteps were heard heading down the hallway, and then there was Zack standing in the doorway, hands upon his hips.

"B.J! Here!"

The large dog started to wag its tail frantically, pushing down on Cloud's side as it pushed off of its perch and ran towards Zack. Zack started to ruffle the dog's neck, smiling and laughing. "You're such a nice but stupid dog, yes you are! Yes you are!"

Zack then pushed 'B.J' out the door and closed it. He turned around and smiled sheepishly at Cloud. "That's my dog B.J. Sorry about that...guess you hadn't met her yet."

Cloud shook his head, still in a slight daze. "I can't believe I missed something that big..."

Zack walked up to the bed and sat on the edge, smiling. "I think the times you were over, B.J was either outside, or sleeping. She sleeps a lot...she is kinda old so she doesn't have as much energy as she used to."

Cloud nodded, rubbing his eyes. "What time is it?"

"8:30..." Cloud shot Zack a glare. "Sorry, I had to go pee and forgot to close the door. B.J must have thought it would be fun to come and say good morning. You can go back to sleep if you want."

The offer was very tempting, Cloud was still very tired. But after being woken up he didn't think he could fall asleep again. "I don't think I can sleep... but I don't want to get up...your blankets are so soft and warm." Cloud started to fiddle with the blankets "Wanna come laze around in the bed with me?" he finally asked, lifting the blanket up slightly and patting the mattress.

Zack chuckled and crawled under the blankets, wrapping his arms around Cloud as Cloud buried his face into his shoulder.

"You're nice and warm!" Zack said, starting to stroke Cloud's head, playing with a few strands of hair.

"And you're cold!" Cloud said, tangling his legs with Zack's. They lay there in a comfortable silence before Cloud spoke again. "What does B.J stand for?"

"Beatriz Junior, but Reno and I call her Blow Job. I love her to death, but I can't help it! It just works so well."

Cloud smiled, and closed his eyes, listening to Zack's breathing.

"Do you know what the nice thing is, about living alone for a while?" Zack asked.

"What's that?"

"I get to walk around the house naked, and there is no one to complain." He laughed when he heard Cloud mumble something incoherent. "What's that? You're gonna have to try and say that without your face in my shoulder."

Cloud lifted his head slightly and spoke slowly. "I said, who said I wouldn't complain?"

Zack mocked hurt and gasped. "Why, do you not like looking at my fabulous physic? Why I think I look quiet handsome in only what god gave me!"

Cloud smacked Zack's chest and laughed. "You're so full of yourself."

Zack shrugged and started to play with Cloud's hair again. "So what was your New Years resolution?"

"I didn't make one." Cloud replied. When he heard Zack gasp in reply he continued. "It's not like I would ever keep it. Most people don't."

"Still, you could have at least come up with something."

"Well what was yours then?"

"To live life to the fullest...and stay happy, no matter what!"

Cloud snorted. "Don't you already do that?"

Zack patted Cloud on the head, earning himself a small growl. "That's the point! I know I can keep that one. Now come on, it's still New Years you still have time to make one."

"...No."

"Aw, come on! How about I make it for you! How about...we have the same one! You need to be more positive... and be happy...no matter what, okay?"

Cloud noticed Zack had gotten more serious as he continued to talk, which left Cloud a little startled. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" But before Cloud could respond Zack had started to talk again. "What are some things you wanna do before you die?"

"Why the sudden question?" Cloud asked, lifting his head up so he was looking at Zack.

Zack just shrugged. "I want to know more about what you want to accomplish, that's all. Anything wrong with that?"

Cloud shook his head, and lay down beside Zack, so both of them were staring up at the ceiling.

"Well...I would like to travel, see different places like Agrabah, and the Pride Rock area. I want to go to university but I don't know what I want to take...I don't even know what I want to be," Cloud paused a moment to think. "I want to see Roxas reach his dreams and see him perform on the big stage, and I want to... just be happy. I know that all sounds really lame, but it's what's going through my head right now. I am sure I will think of things later on in the day though. I would say I want to fall in love, but I have already done that."

Zack nodded and smiled what looked like a slightly sad smile out of the corner of his eye. "What do you want to do before you die?" Cloud whispered.

Zack gently took Cloud's hand in his and squeezed it slightly. He didn't say anything for a while and Cloud was just about to ask him if he was okay before he finally started to speak. Cloud heard him swallow and then begin.

"I want to finish school and travel-to every place imaginable. Everywhere in the world, I want to go. I want to meet everyone and I want to learn their stories. I want to see a sun rise and a sun set all across the world. I want to go water skiing, snow boarding, skating, and horseback riding. I want to change someone's life for the better, and I want that person to change mine. I want to go dancing at a foreign club and just let everything go," Cloud could only stare as Zack spouted off everything he wanted to do, with so much emotion behind it. He could feel Zack shaking slightly, and he squeezed Zack's hand even more. He really hadn't expected Zack to become so emotional.

"I want to have children, whether that means knocking up a surrogate mother who would be willing to have our baby, or adopt. I want to teach the kid how to play baseball and football and take them to dance lessons and music lessons; it doesn't matter if they're a boy or a girl. I want to have sex in a public place--" Cloud couldn't help but blush. "- and I want it to freak out some old lady who happens to walk by and hear noises. I want to see Aerith finally own a flower shop, I want to see Reno and Rude get back together because I know they belong together. I want to see my mom and dad get to go to the casino in Agrabah and hit the lucky jackpot. But...most of all, I want to go home..."

Cloud sat up quickly and looked down at Zack. "Home? I thought this was your home."

Zack shook his head, sitting up as well. "I wasn't born here. I was born in Olympus. I lived there until I was thirteen when my parents decided to move to Hollow Bastion. I am glad they did, but I would still like to go back...feel the strong warm breeze on my face, and the sand between my toes."

Cloud could only stare at Zack. First he had gone on about all the things he wanted to do before he died with such passion that Cloud thought Zack might actually start crying, and now he had just learnt that Zack wasn't from Hollow Bastion. In a small way he was looking at Zack in a new way.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Cloud asked.

"It never came up... I just didn't think it was that important. I'm sorry." Zack looked genuinely sorry for not telling Cloud this, and Cloud couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"I'm sorry; you just looked like such a cute kicked puppy." Cloud smiled and kissed Zack on the lips before pulling away slightly to rest his forehead on Zack's. "Hey, let's travel the world together, eh? And we can do all the things you want to do as well... just maybe not the public sex thing."

Zack chuckled, pulling Cloud into a hug. "Thanks... but it would mean more to me if you did do that. It could be in a change room if you like, it's fairly private."

Cloud laughed and pinched Zack's arm. "Maybe...we'll see if the mood ever strikes me."

Zack hummed slightly before pushing Cloud away slightly so he could kiss him. The kiss started out slow and relaxed, even as Zack pushed Cloud down onto the mattress. Zack's hands started to roam and Cloud arched up into the touch, just enjoying the feeling of skin to skin contact.

When they broke apart and Zack started to kiss down Cloud's neck, Cloud turned slightly and looked out the window to see...

Snow.

It was snowing.

Cloud smacked Zack's arm a few times, and Zack started to whine. "What are you doing that for?" Zack asked, lifting his head up to glare slightly at Cloud. Cloud simply pointed to the window, his eyes wide.

Zack looked out the window, and his eyes bugged out slightly. "Wow...it's...snowing..." He sounded slightly confused.

"I know..." Cloud replied, sounding equally as confused.

Zack suddenly bounded off of Cloud and reached for his boxers, frantically putting them on. "Come on! Let's go outside!" He toppled over after he got his boxers on, but it didn't seem to faze him much. He grabbed for a discarded pair of pants, not seeming to care if they were his or Clouds.

Cloud slowly climbed out of the bed, wrapping the blanket around himself. Sure Zack had seen him naked on a number of occasions (Zack was usually the one causing the nakedness) but he still felt shy about it.

"Pass me my boxers, will you?" He asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Zack threw them at him in a frantic attempt to find a shirt. While he was putting them on Zack tossed him his jeans as well.

Cloud noticed with some amusement that Zack had put on Cloud's Chocobo T-shirt.

Cloud slipped on the jeans, while Zack padded down the hallway mumbling about finding socks. Cloud grabbed one of Zack's plain black shirts and dug around in his overnight bag for a pair of socks and a comb. He knew his hair wasn't going to be tamed, but he liked to think that brushing it would help in some way.

By the time he had gotten ready, Zack was yelling from the door. "Come on lets go outside! You yourself said you wanted a white Christmas!"

Cloud rolled his eyes and headed down the hallway, laughing when he saw Zack bouncing up and down by the door, with B.J sitting there, watching him with a weary eye. Cloud grabbed his jacket off the ground where it had been thrown the previous night. "Shall we?"

Zack broke out into a huge grin and whipped open the door while grabbing Cloud's hand. They ran outside together, while B.J stayed by the door. It was obviously to cold for her liking.

"Snow snow snow! It's snowing!" Zack took both of Cloud's hand and twirled around, trying not to slip on the wet snow that had settled on the ground.

Cloud started to laugh, and went along with the twirling. "I never thought I would see snow here!" He said, after they had both stopped spinning. "It's so pretty."

Zack let go of Cloud's hands and bent down, picking up some of the snow and trying to make it into a snowball without much success. "It's too mushy and wet..." He stared at the snow in his hands before he decided to eat it.

Cloud gave Zack an amused look before wandering off to a small grove of trees. The nice thing about Zack's house was it was in a nice neighborhood with older tree's that separated the homes. It gave Cloud a feeling like he wasn't in the middle of a city; rather he was in a small community in the countryside.

Zack slowly followed behind Cloud, with his head turned to the sky watching the snow come down. "Hey, let's dance."

Cloud turned around and looked at Zack. His eyes were bright and his cheeks slightly pink. Cloud couldn't help but think he was the cutest person he had ever seen. "There's no music though."

Zack shook his head. "Silly Cloud, you don't need music to dance!" He grabbed Cloud and pulled him into an embrace and started to sway to no beat in particular. He then started to hum a cheesy waltz tune, while guiding Cloud around the 'dance floor'.

Cloud laughed, and followed Zack around. He watched as the snowflakes fell in Zack's hair and melted slightly. Now Cloud couldn't help but think Zack was the most beautiful person he had ever met.

Apparently Zack thought the same thing. "You're so gorgeous..." He whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too." Cloud spoke, leaning in to capture Zack's lips with his own.

When they broke, Zack had on a small smile, but it quickly turned into that of worry.

"You okay?" Cloud asked, watching Zack pull away from Cloud to lean against a tree.

Zack looked off into the distance for a moment before looking back at Cloud, a small distracted smile on his face. "Yeah, I am fine, don't worry."

Cloud walked towards Zack, and reached out for his arm. "Zack, I really don't think your okay." He felt Zack slump down slightly, and it was apparent he was struggling to stay upwards.

Suddenly Zack coughed, and a small amount of blood came out of his mouth, as well as his nose. Zack looked up at Cloud, tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry..." He whispered, and fell to the ground.

* * *

**Authors Note**: -Hides away from you guys- Sorry! Next chapter everything will be explained, although a few of you have already kinda figured out what's going on. Only a few more chapters and this story shall be coming to a close! After that I will start posting my next fanfic called 'Loyalties'. It's going to be much much darker then this one and deal with more 'adult situations' -laughs-. It's all Yakuza and business men! And of course, it will be Zack/Cloud! Anyways, I hope you guys don't get too upset otherwise I would feel really bad. Just one more week until it is all answered...and then you guys will probably hate me more. But I love all of you! Especially those who review! -hint hint- Nah, I am just kidding, you guys are all awesome. But reviews are awesome so if you have the time to review, please do! It lets me know what all you guys are thinking! 


	14. Chapter 14

Warnings: Language, Sexual situations, Yaoi (M/M)

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney, not me.

_

* * *

' I'm sorry...' _

Cloud sat in the waiting room, with one of his hands balled into a tight fists at his side, while the other one held tightly onto the ankh necklace as he tried to stay still. He had been waiting for a little over an hour, with no word on the condition of Zack.

He couldn't get the image of Zack bent over, tears in his eyes as he spoke those two little words, blood running down down his chin...

He looked so scared.

Cloud squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, trying to forget what he had seen, but he knew it wouldn't work. That image would haunt him for years to come.

Cloud was just grateful that Zack's next door neighbor had been walking their dog and had seen what was happening. They called the emergency number while Cloud stayed beside Zack, willing him to wake-up and say everything was okay. He hated how he had frozen up when Zack needed him, hated how all he could do was stand there while the paramedics swarmed him, and asked Cloud questions to which he couldn't answer.

'_Whats his middle name? His blood type? Had he been acting strange before hand? How long had he been showing symptoms like he was going to faint?_'

All he could do was shake his head and say ' I don't know'.

But oddly, all the questions stopped when they found his file on the computer in the emergency vehicle, and Cloud was given a few sympathetic looks by a few of the personal, and the neighbor.

"What the hell is going on?" Cloud growled out, while standing up. He started to pace the length of the waiting room, avoiding eye contact with the nurse sitting at the reception desk.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do! Quick, Seph, push him out of the way or something, yo!"

Cloud stopped his pacing and looked at the door. That voice was very familiar.

Soon a spikey haired red head was barreling through the door, a look of annoyance mixed with worry on his face. A taller man with long silver hair was glaring over his shoulder at a security guard.

Cloud felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest at the sight of them, but it didn't compare to the relief he felt when he saw a smaller, brown haired woman apologizing to the security guard.

"Hey man, what happened?" Reno asked, rushing up to Cloud when he saw him.

Cloud looked up at Reno, trying to find his voice. He would really rather not break down in front of all of them. " He and I were outside, and everything was fine but then Zack—he started-- well he looked a little off, and needed to support himself against a tree. I kept asking him if something was wrong but he kept brushing it off. But then-- then he coughed, and all this... this blood came up. And then he fell..."

It was no use, Cloud could feel his eyes stinging with unshed tears. "I don't know whats going on."

Aerith came up grabbed Cloud, pulling him into a tight embrace, and Cloud held on to her for dear life.

Sephiroth sat down on one of the plastic chairs, and ran a hand through his hair. Cloud had never seen him look so unprepared.

Meanwhile Reno started to pace around, muttering things under his breath like 'this wasn't suppose to happen' and 'I thought he had more time then this, the doctors said so.'

Cloud released his grip on Aerith and cut in front of Reno. "What do you mean ' he had more time then this'?"

Reno stopped mid rant, his eyes softening as he looked at Cloud. "... Cloud... Zack...well... he's sick. I mean really sick."

Aerith continued when Reno turned away from Cloud, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Cloud was so confused. 'Really sick?'. How did they know he was really sick?

"What the_ hell _is going on here?" Cloud growled out, turning to Aerith.

Aerith grabbed Cloud's hand and squeezed it slightly. "Zack has cancer."

Cloud thought he was going to fall into a black hole. Everything started to dim around him, and he didn't know if there was anything below him but darkness. "What...?"

Even his own voice sounded far off and distant to himself. He wasn't even sure he had said anything.

_'Zack has cancer' _It kept running through his mind, over and over again. Aerith's kind, sincere voice turned into that of venom and hate.

Cloud ripped his hand away from Aerith's grasp and turned around.

"I am so sorry Cloud..." She whispered, tentatively touching his shoulder.

"What kind of cancer...?"

Aerith didn't hesitate in answering. "It's brain cancer, a really bad kind too. The survival rate it really low... Zack doesn't have much longer."

Cloud could hear Aerith trying not to cry, but it wasn't working. He turned around quickly and wrapped his arms around Aerith. "How much longer?"

"A month at best." a young doctor replied, walking into the waiting room.

This couldn't be happening, this _shouldn't_ be happening. This was Zack they were talking about, he didn't deserve this! He should have a long happy life, he should get to have kids, see the world, or at least graduate from god damn school! But he wasn't...Zack was going to—no, don't think about that. Cloud wouldn't let them say that, _he _wasn't going to let himself say that. Zack _wasn't_ going to die; Zack was going to do all the things he wanted to do, and live a long fulfilled life. No way in _hell_ would something like cancer bring Zack down, no way in hell.

Cloud looked at the doctor, keeping a firm arm around Aerith. Reno came up from behind Cloud, squeezing his shoulder slightly, also looking at the doctor. Sephiroth stayed rooted in his seat, his fists clenched, his knuckles going white.

" Whats going to happen to him in that time?" Sephiroth questioned.

Cloud really didn't want to know, and tried to block out what the doctor was saying, but to no avail.

" He will get more and more headaches, which will turn into the occasional fit. After that he will develop hemiparesis--"

" Whats that?" Reno cut in.

"It's the partial paralysis of one side of the body. One of the more noticeable changes will be memory loss. He has held it off for a while,which shocks us, but soon he will start to forget things, simple things at first, but it will get worse... then—well, he will pass--"

The doctor was cut off from what he was saying when Sephiroth abruptly sat up and kicked the chair, sending it clattering down the waiting room. He then paused, breathing heavily before he trudged out of the room, slamming the doors open in the process. The nurse at the desk jumped slightly, only now looking up from her paper work.

The doctor patiently waited while the outburst happened. He must be used to it by now, Cloud thought.

"I'm so very sorry." he finally said. "He's awake right now, you can go see him if you like. But only two are a loud in at a time." he was about to leave before he paused and turned around. "Do you know where his parents are? We haven't been able to contact them..."

"They're visiting his aunts right now... I'll give you the number." Aerith replied, walking away from Cloud and heading over to the reception desk.

Cloud and Reno both just stood there, looking at the double doors that would lead them to Zack.

"You should go in first... Aerith and I will wait here...Sephiroth will come back later, he just needs to calm down." Reno pushed Cloud towards he doors gently.

Cloud didn't want to go though. He didn't want to see Zack in a hospital bed. He knew the minute he saw Zack, it would be real. This horrible nightmare would all be real.

But Zack needed him. This was no time to be selfish.

Cloud slowly started forward, listening to the clunk of his shoes on the ground, and the hammering of his heart in his chest. It seemed like a eternity before he reached the room Zack was in, and even longer before he actually reached for the doorknob.

Cloud opened the door closing his eyes for a moment.

"Hey..."

Cloud opened his eyes when he heard Zack's raspy, weak voice.

There, lying in the cold, white hospital sheets was Zack. He looked pale, and a little worn, but still the same old Zack. But there were wires and tubes. He had an I.V slowly dripping, giving Zack strength, while a few wires hooked him up to the heart monitor, it's beeping the only sound in the room.

"Oh god..." Cloud whimpered, rushing towards Zack. He grabbed onto Zack's hand, squeezing it and probably causing Zack some pain, but he didn't show it. He bent down, kissing Zack's cheek before pulling back, and starting to comb Zack's long, black spiky hair. "Why didn't you tell me?" He whispered through tears. It was no use holding them back now.

"I didn't want something like this hanging over us, hanging over the time we had together. I wanted our time to be special..."

Cloud shook his head, and blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision. "You should have told me..."

Zack took his hand away from Cloud's and reached up, wiping away Cloud's tears. "Don't cry... please don't cry."

Cloud looked down at Zack and saw tears in his eyes as well. "Can't you... can't you fight it?"

Zack shook his head. "I wish I could, believe me, I wish for nothing more then being able to fight it, but it's to strong for me."

"No, no it's not. Zack, you...you can't leave...you can't leave me! What will I do? What will I do without you?" The tears were flowing freely, and Cloud didn't think he would ever be able to stop. He gazed down at the floor, not wanting to look at Zack.

"Live."

Cloud snorted slightly.

Zack suddenly reached out and grabbed onto Cloud's hand holding it in a vice like grip. "Look at me."

He hesitantly looked up, and locked eyes with Zack. "You have to live out your life, and live it to the fullest okay? Just think of your necklace alright? It means 'life' and I want you to have one after I am gone..."

Cloud nodded, reaching up to hold onto the necklace. "They say...they say you only have a month left. God, a month isn't long enough! I'm not ready to let you leave."

Zack then smiled, still holding onto Cloud's hand, though not as hard. "Hey, I once heard a quote and it went something like this; ' I believe imagination is more important then knowledge-- myth is more potent then history--dreams are more powerful then facts-- hope always triumphs over experience-- laughter is the cure for grief—love is stronger then death.'. I believe in what that man has to say, so as long as you and everyone else who loves me continue to love me, I will never be gone, Cloud. I will never leave you. You just won't see me for a while, thats all."

" ' I am ready to meet my maker, Whether my maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter'... Winston Churchill." Cloud whispered, playing with Zack's hand, smiling slightly. "I think thats pretty fitting for you."

Zack laughed, a strong healthy sounding laugh that brought warmth back into Cloud.

"Thats the spirit. Now lets not be sad, we still have a little while left together. How about you go buy me some flowers, thats what boyfriends are suppose to do. God knows this place could use some colour."

Cloud laughed slightly. "How come in the worst situations imaginable, you can make me laugh?"

"It's because I am amazing." Zack simply replied.

XX

"Are you afraid?"

"Hm?"

"Are you afraid of dying...?"

Zack stopped flipping through his magazine to look at Cloud, who was sitting on a chair beside his hospital bed. Zack had been there for a week now, and every day Cloud came to visit. His family was constantly in there as well, and for that Zack was grateful. He was doing pretty good the doctors told him. He had only lost feeling in his right hand for a few moments before it came back, and only one fit (although it happened when his mother was with him).

"... yeah, I am pretty damn scared." he replied, not wanting to sugar coat things.

"...do you believe in heaven?"

Zack looked out the window of his room and sighed. "Maybe... I don't know. I would like for there to be something out there, someplace to have an adventure--" Cloud smiled. Zack was still thinking about having an adventure, even when faced with death. "-- But...I really don't think there is. Guess I will find out soon enough though, eh?"

Cloud looked down at his shoes and sighed heavily, running a hand through is unruley spikes. "I guess so..."

He closed his eyes and held his head in his hands, trying to pretend it wasn't real. For a moment he believed it. Zack was fine. He was flipping cheerfully through his magazine, and soon someone would come to say they could leave now. They could get the hell away from this place, and never have to come back. He was planning what they'd do with the rest of their day, when he heard Zack make a small grunting noise. His head quickly shot up to see his boyfriend looking confused and scared, as he held his hand under his chin to catch the blood that had started to come up.

Cloud was at the door in an instant, throwing it open and hurtling into the hallway. He knew where to find the nurses now, and was used to finding them in a hurry. In no time at all they were back in the room, and the nurse had everything under control. She quickly dabbed the remaining blood from Zack's mouth, and soothed him with a comforting rub on the back, and a calming tone. Zack seemed to feel better very quickly, but Cloud was left feeling frazzled, helpless, and useless. He stood awkwardly at Zack's bedside feeling numb, and empty.

"Hey, you okay?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, yeah I am fine... just thinking." Cloud muttered.

Zack nodded and went back to reading his magazine.

"Hey, this looks nice!" Zack beamed, "Look, Olympia Cruise Lines is having a special anniversary cruise. Looks like it's gonna be pretty fancy. o-lym-pi-a... yeh, I bet it's nice there. I have always wanted to go to the ocean." Zack was so proud and happy with his discovery, that Cloud didn't bothering trying to remind him he HAD been there, had lived there and loved it. Besides, there wasn't enough energy in the world to keep teaching Zack his own past, and the hurt and confusion is Zack's eyes was always too much to bear.

Cloud walked over to the window, and leaned wearily against the frame. Several minutes later, just as Cloud was sure he couldn't take the sound of flipping magazine pages anymore, there was a soft knock on the door, and Cloud turned around to see Aerith standing in the doorway. She was holding an armful of white lilies wrapped in blue paper with a pink bow tied around them. She smiled sympathetically at the lines of weariness on the blonde boys face.

She walked farther into the room, towards Zack's bed, a large warm smile on her face as soon as she saw Zack look up at her. "I brought you these Zack, because I know you don't have any others right now, and they're really such pretty flowers that I know you'd want them even if the room was so full of flowers you couldn't move." She laughed a little, and gently placed the flowers where they could be easily seen, without Zack having to turn his head too much. She patted down her skirt, and directed her attention to Cloud.

"I also thought, that maybe you might like to go get some fresh air, and have a little break Cloud. I'll stay and catch up with Zack."

"Oh, that'd be nice, I like people who bring me flowers," Zack grinned "but, can I ask first... who are you?"

* * *

** Authors Note:** So I know a lot of you guys are going to be angry at me for this, but I do have my reasons. I actually wrote this entire story to help myself cope with the loss of my grandparents, as well as deal with the fact that my Dad had cancer. He actually had it a few years ago, but it's always been looming over the family since then. But yes, my Grandparents passed away in December and January and I thought that a good way to deal with all of it would be to write out something. And then ta da! My fanfiction came into being. It originally just started out as an idea about someone dealing with the death of a lover because of cancer, and then I wanted to put Zack and Cloud in as the roles because I love that pairing to death. Also, the song 'I grieve' by Peter Gabrielle really inspired me. Anyway, enough of my rambling. I have one more chapter and then an epilogue for you guys, and I hope you all stick around to read those last few chapters and don't huck snowballs at me! I really appreciate all your guy's support! Please, if you have the time, a review would mean a lot to me! Love all of you guys! -hugs- 


	15. Chapter 15

Warnings: Language, sexual situations, M/M (Yaoi) If any of that turns out off, please walk away

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII, and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney. Sadly, they do not belong to me.

* * *

It was a Sunday afternoon when Zack passed away.

Cloud had been sitting beside Zack's bed, holding his hand as he read from one of Zack's favorite books, ' Black Beauty', when Zack's heart had given out. It happened so suddenly, and all Cloud could do was listen to the sound of the heart monitor; monitoring a heart that wouldn't ever beat again...

No matter how much Cloud wished it to.

Cloud just sat there, a numb feeling going over him, and no thought at all crossing his mind. The nurse came into the room, and gently unhooked the heart monitor, cutting out the long, depressing sound. Cloud had heard that sound in so many movies and TV shows, one sound that meant so little in those moments, but now meant so much.

"I'm terribly sorry..." the nurse said, looking at Cloud.

Cloud stood up slowly, the book on his lap falling to the ground in a crumpled heap. He kept a tight grip on Zack's now limp hand.

"If you would like, we have a room where you can go and sit for a--"

"Will he get cold?" Cloud whispered, sounding almost like a child. Not daring to look the nurse in the eyes he kept his gaze fixed on her shoulder.

"Yes, in a little while..." she replied, her voice even and calm.

"He...he didn't feel any pain...did he?"

"No, not at all."

Cloud nodded slowly.

Suddenly a wail could be heard from the doorway. Cloud didn't even flinch as the sound hit his ears. He simply stood there, as Zack's mother rushed into the room, tears streaming down her face as she made her way towards her son's bedside. Zack's father soon followed, grabbing onto the bed's railing, trying to support himself as his legs threatened to give way.

Cloud wouldn't, no he couldn't look at them. Not at the ones who had lost so much. They should have been here with Zack when it happened.

Cloud was about to get lost in the sound of the heart wrenching sobs coming from the other side of the bed, when he felt a calm, warm hand touch his arm.

"Cloud...why don't you come with me?"

That voice...it sounded so familiar...so soothing. Cloud slowly tore his gaze away from the bed sheets he had been staring at to look at a girl...no... not a girl... Aerith.

Yes, Aerith was here.

Cloud tried not to look at Zack as he left. Zack was gone; all that was left was a body... a body that would no longer hold onto Cloud, whispering comforting words. But he had to look, just one last time. He gazed up at Zack's now peaceful face. His eyes were closed, and if Cloud didn't know any better he would say he was just sleeping. The last few weeks had been really hard on Zack. He tried to stay happy, and put on a great show of it, but Cloud could see it was wearing him down... but now, now he looked like he could finally rest...like he was at peace.

Cloud felt Aerith tug at his arm, and ripped his eyes away from Zack's still form. Zack was gone...

"He's gone..." Cloud spoke, his voice cracking slightly as Aerith led him out of the room and down to hallway. "He's...he's not coming back..."

The sound of Zack's mother's sobs, and the murmur of the nurse speaking slowly and calmly could still be heard down the hallway, but it all sounded muffled and far, far away to Cloud.

Aerith didn't reply when she heard Cloud speak; only leading him farther away, until they were outside.

It was a beautiful day.

The sun was shining down, the birds were singing...and Cloud...Cloud was lost.

Aerith held Cloud's hand as the both of them just stared out at the small park beside the hospital.

"He's really gone..." Cloud choked out, falling to the ground in a crumpled heap. Tears suddenly spilled forward, as he curled up into himself, his choked sobs shaking his entire frame. Aerith came down to Cloud's level and dragged him into a hug, his tears quickly soaking into her shirt. He grabbed onto Aerith, his fingers digging into her shoulder, threatening to bruise but neither one of them noticed.

"I know." She whispered, her voice wavering as tears slid down her cheeks.

* * *

Cloud's feet were planted firmly on the ground, his hands clasped in front of himself, as the gentle winter breeze ruffled his hair. It was chilly, and a few people around him shivered but he paid no attention the ache in his bones, protesting the chill and the stillness.

"_I feel so sorry for the family, he was so young."_

"_Cancer...it's such a horrible thing. You know, I always donate my money to different cancer charities. You know those little boxes where you put your change in? I always give my pennies to it."_

Cloud stared at Zack's headstone, trying not to listen to the conversations going on around him. Why did people think that this was a social gathering? It wasn't a time to talk about charity boxes; it was a time to remember what they had lost!

'Zackary_ James Fair _

_1990-2007_

_Beloved Son  
Devoted Friend_

_Smiling to the end'_

Cloud read the words over and over again... it was oddly fitting. If anyone knew Zack, they knew he loved to smile.

Zack wasn't actually being buried. Some of his ashes were being placed under the tombstone, but Cloud was told that the rest of his ashes were to be scattered some place in Olympia, a place where Zack apparently spent a great deal of time. His parents and his Grandmother were making the flight over in a few days.

'Who's_ that young man over there?'_

'_Oh, didn't you know? That was Zackary's lover!'_

'_Lover you say? Why, there both males!'_

'_I know, it's all very scandalous, isn't it?'_

'_Still, the poor dear must be having a hard time of this as well.'_

'_Humph, I guess. But you know, God doesn't let everyone in heaven...if you know what I mean.'_

Cloud clenched his fists and stuffed them into his pocket trying to control the rage burning inside him. He wanted nothing more then to go and show those two women what a real scandal was by possibly tackling them down right then and there. But he didn't think Zack's family would really appreciate Cloud disturbing this somber moment by taking out his frustration and grief on a few people attending the service.

Zack might have found it amusing though. Zack could make light of almost any situation. Cloud could see him right now, standing there, a mischievous look on his face as he snaked his arm around Cloud's waist. He would lean in and probably give Cloud a kiss on the cheek, while watching the reactions of the woman out of the corner of his eye. And Cloud would let him do all of these things, because Zack was Zack, and he could get away with anything regarding Cloud...he was special that way.

"Hey..."

Cloud felt someone standing beside him.

It was Reno.

"Hey." Cloud replied, flicking his gaze towards him for a moment, before they fell back to stare at the Zack's name on the tombstone.

Cloud had found it hard as of late to look people in the eye. He didn't really know why, maybe it was because he was so in love with Zack's eyes. That was the first thing he noticed and fell in love with in regards to Zack. They always held so much warmth and love in them...everyone else's eyes just appeared dull and slightly accusing in his eyes now.

"How you holding up?" Reno asked, looking around at all the people gathered. Apparently Reno found it hard to keep his sights on anyone for longer then two seconds.

Cloud took a moment to reply, his gaze fixed onto Zack's headstone. "As good as can be expected. What about you?"

"Pretty much the same..."

"Do you think you're going to be okay?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah... it will take a while but yes. I have some support systems so that's good."

Cloud nodded. He had seen Rude holding Reno's hand earlier, and the two were standing very close. It appeared they had gotten back together after all. He couldn't help but think of how that was one thing Zack wanted to see before he died.

'_It's a little late now.' _Cloud thought in a bitter way, but quickly stopped himself. He should be happy for Reno. Any kind of love at this point would hopefully shine a small light on the group; god knows they could use that.

It had only been three days since Zack passed away, and everyone had been very depressed those three days. Aerith, Reno, Sephiroth, and Cloud all stayed together none of them wanting to alone for very long. They all stayed rather quiet, not talking much, but still taking comfort to know that they were all still there.

Cloud felt like he was going to fall apart any moment. He had cried, oh boy had he cried. It seemed like he spent most of his time now crying, or trying not to cry. He just wanted to give in...wanted to just go to sleep and never wake up. Go to sleep and see Zack there... waiting with open arms...

"Are you going to be okay?" Reno asked tentatively. He had watched Cloud's downward spiral hopelessly. He didn't know what to do. Every day Cloud looked worse and worse. He was paler then he was before, and it appeared that he wasn't getting much sleep, nor enough food.

Cloud didn't respond. Of course he wasn't going to be okay? How could he be okay? The person he loved so much wasn't evercoming back. You aren't going to be 'okay' after that.

"Yeah." Cloud mumbled.

"He loved you... he really did." Reno said, finally looked at Cloud.

Suddenly everything felt like it was closing in on Cloud, and he didn't know what to do. He quickly turned from Reno and continued on in an unknown direction. Reno reached out slightly to stop Cloud, but stopped himself. He just needed some time alone...right?

Cloud got a few glances, and concerned looks as he stormed off, and away from the graveyard, but only glared forward, paying no attention to anyone around him. His suit felt hot, and like it was threatening to choke him. He frantically ripped away at the tie, getting it off and throwing it to the ground as he continued on his unknown path.

Why did Reno say that? Cloud didn't want to think about how much Zack loved him, didn't want to think about what he had lost... it just hurt too much.

Cloud stumbled over a tree root, and fell down onto his knees underneath a tree, tears coming and stinging his eyes. He stayed on the ground, shaking with anger, grief, and exhaustion. He let out a loud, angry scream and pounded the earth with his fist.

"WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?!" he screamed out, causing a few birds in the tree to fly up into the air. "WHY?!"

Cloud collapsed onto his stomach exhaustion overtaking him. Tears were slowly coming down, but the anger he felt just moments ago was replaced with just a sense of not caring anymore. He laid there with his eyes shut, completely still listening to the birds singing, and the occasional car drive by down the street.

After what seemed like an eternity Cloud opened his eyes, and his gaze fell upon a small black beetle, making its way across the dead, prickly grass. Weren't these supposed to be hibernating?

"... I don't think I can make it Zack." Cloud whispered.

He watched with little interest as the beetle came closer, and closer, until it seemed to trip on a piece of grass, and fall down on its back. Its legs frantically moved about, trying to move so its momentum would work for his advantage and he would be back on track.

"It's so hard without you..."

The beetle kept fighting.

Cloud let out a heavy sigh, and reached out for the beetle poking it with his finger. The beetle immediately stopped moving. He shifted a bit, and felt a sharp jab on his chest. He sat up slightly, and reached down his shirt only to come into contact with something hard.

His necklace.

He pulled it out from under his shirt, and pulled it closer to his face, examining the blue stone and the way the silver caught the light, casting a bright light over his face. It was so shiny...and pure. Cloud was entranced by it for a moment, and just let his mind wander.

" _You have to live out your life, and live it to the fullest okay? Just think of your necklace alright? It means 'life' and I want you to have one after I am gone..."_

Zack's voice went through Cloud's head and struck a cord. Zack wanted him to live...wanted him to do everything that he wanted in life... everything Zack couldn't do now.

Live your life to the fullest and always be happy.

Cloud smiled slightly, remembering his New Years resolution. "You always have a way of making me promise, and do things I don't really want to do... yet after I do those things, it always seems to turn out better then expected..."

Cloud whipped away a few of the dried tears and rubbed his eyes. "You haven't left me though...have you? Your still here...just..."

"_Where you can't see me" _

Cloud felt a warm breeze fall over him, and brush away a few stray hairs. He laughed slightly and shook his head. "How cliché."

Cloud looked down at the beetle and noticed it had gotten itself back onto its feet, and was moving as quickly as possible away from the large, loud pink thing that had decided to get in his path. Cloud watched the beetle go a little ways away before deciding to stand up and look around, trying to figure out where he was.

Then it hit him.

He was at the tree Zack always visited when he was upset...the place where they shared their first kiss. Cloud looked up the tree and smiled slightly, remembering how he had fallen and how Zack had held onto him, keeping him from face planting into his chest. Cloud tentatively reached out to the tree and traced the old, worn lines of the bark.

"I'll live out both our lives." Cloud whispered, keeping his hand on the tree while the other held onto the necklace. He gazed out to look at the sun set, its orange glow basking Cloud in warmth. "Tomorrow is a new day..."

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**Authors Note**: Dear god this chapter took a lot out of me. It took me a while to get it all down and actually make it flow properly. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter mostly because I think grief is such a hard subject to write about because people go through the stages differently. Here we have angry upset and crying Cloud, while I deal with grief by having one good cry and then being fine and accepting it. So yeah, I had to go into a different frame of mind! I hope it all turned out well and I do have **one more chapter left** for you guys to read. It's super short and I wouldn't even call it a chapter. Just an Epilogue to close everything up and tie up all the loose ends. So, I shall wait until the end of the story to write down all my thank you's and so on and so forth! But I shall thank you guys for all the reviews! The story hit 100 Reviews the other day and I want to thank all of you guys for reviewing! So remember one more chapter next week and I hope this whole story didn't depress you guys too much!


	16. Chapter 16

Warnings: Language, sexual situations, M/M (Yaoi) If any of that turns out off, please walk away

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII, and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney. Sadly, they do not belong to me.

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_**Epilogue **_

_A year later... _

"Are you sure you have everything?"

"Yes, I am sure."

"Because I don't want you going all that way to find out you don't have any underwear."

"I am_ fine_ mom."

"Okay, no need to get all testy with me. I am just concerned..."

Cloud rolled his eyes but smiled, dragging his mother into a hug. "I'll be back in a week, so don't fret. I will call as soon as I get there and email every day. Besides, I have been gone way longer then this."

"Good, good, and I know but I still worry... you're sure you will remember to call, and email?" Mrs. Strife asked, pulling away from her son.

"Don't worry I will."

"_Now boarding flight 120 to Olympia, seats 90-150."_

Cloud hugged his mom one last time and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before picking up his bag. "That's me!"

He walked towards the boarding gate, and looked behind him to see his mother standing there, a large smile on her face, but tears in her eyes. Sometimes mother's got so worried.

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Cloud walked up the sandy beach, watching the ocean lap at the shore. It was much warmer here in Olympia then it was in Hallow Bastion, and Cloud was enjoying it. He stopped close to the ocean and let the water hit his bare feet, as he closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the ocean air comb through his hair.

"I can see why you liked it here so much..." he whispered, and he could swear he felt a pair of strong arms reach around and cradle Cloud.

"Sorry I couldn't visit sooner... you know how things are." Cloud kicked around at a seashell for a moment before continuing. "Aerith graduated and moved back to the big city and is going to school. A business school actually. She is trying to open up that flower shop. She's doing really well... as bright and cheerful as ever. She's been really helpful to me... and... and I am really grateful to her for that."

He sighed, and decided to sit on the beach, not caring that his shorts got wet. "Reno...oh god Reno. He's currently working with his Dad fixing cars and loving every minute of it. He and Rude got back together, just like you wanted, but I have to say I really do feel sorry for Rude. They moved in together, and I have no idea why Rude hasn't gone crazy. I only hang out with Reno and I feel crazy, imagine living with the guy!"

Cloud laughed, and picked up some sand, letting it fall in between his fingers. He repeated the process a few more times and started to talk again. "Sephiroth is in school. One of the best universities you can get into. He is really enjoying it, and seems to excel at everything he does, no surprises there. He went into engineering. Everyone said he should have gone into a science course and become a scientist, but he seemed really opposed to the idea... I don't know why."

"As for myself..." Cloud stopped, and curled his legs up into himself, resting his chin on his knees. "I have been traveling actually. I went to a lot of different places. I backpacked my way around mostly... that's all I could really do what with little money. But it's been a great experience. I did a few of the things you wanted to do... I went and talked to an old woman who sat in front of a coffee shop every day in Port Royal. I watched her a few times, and she always looked so sad. So I went and talked to her one day and apparently her husband used to own a fishing boat, and go out every day to fish. She would wait for him at the coffee shop every evening and he would come back with a bright smile on his face, and a grand tale to tell her. But he soon got to old, and passed away a little while ago, and left her all alone. But she doesn't dare break her routine, and still waits for him."

Cloud wiped away at a tear that rolled down his cheek without him noticing. When had he started to cry? "I told her about you... she seemed very interested, and would have liked to meet you. I am sure you two would have had a lot of fun talking to each other." Cloud smiled, realizing the tears coming down his face were that of happy tears. "I am planning on going to go see her again sometime... just to bring a little bit of happiness back to her life... I think you would have done the same."

"You...told me to live out my life... and I promised I would live out both our lives... I hope I am doing okay... And... and I hope you're happy where you are...wherever you are. It's been really hard without you, I mean really hard. There isn't a moment where I don't think about you. But it's never sad... I never think about your time in the hospital... I think of the times when you and I would go on walks and hold hands...and you would go and chase the ducks at the pond..." Cloud laughed, brushing away some hair from his face, tears still falling. He sat there for a little while longer, just staring out at the ocean and watching the light play across the water, making it all appear like diamonds were floating across the top.

After a while he stood up and dusted off his pants, trying to get rid of as much sand as possible. Again the feeling of strong arms surrounding Cloud was felt, and he wanted to desperately to lean back into that embrace.

"Stop teasing." Cloud joked, closing his eyes again, and listened to the sound the surf hitting the beach and the occasional screech from a seagull. His hand came up and clasped the ankh necklace hanging on his neck.

_L__ove is stronger then death._

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**Authors Note:** So there you have it, the last chapter! I know it's short and probably really sucky, but I wanted to just add some closure. Cloud will be okay and although he misses Zack, he will remember him fondly and continue to love him while moving on with his own life! Anyways, I gotta thank so many people so I should start from the top: **Cid**! My wonderful Beta who without her this fic would not be possible at all. Thanks for kicking me in the ass when I needed to start writing the next chapter and for all the support! **Logan**! Although you pissed me off with the last few chapters you gave me so much inspiration and really helped me with this. **DamagedWorth**! Your reviews meant so much to me and I totally appreciate them, thanks for the reviews and the support! **Andrea Roberts**! -humps- Love yah! **Mystic Fate**! Thank you for all the reviews and the support! Also, thanks for helping me with an idea for my new fanfiction- I promise I will make you an LJ layout when you get tierd of your current one. **Toons**! I got really excited when I saw you had reviewed a chapter, I really appreciated all of them so thank you! **Atomic Snobunni**! Thank you for the artwork, that was really sweet, and thanks for all the reviews! **Rangiku.Charlize**! My fellow Calgarian, and such a lovely person! Thank you for all the reviews and I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your story! **Fallen-Yuki**! Your reviews were always so long and so helpful and I really appreciate that. Nothing is better then a well thought of out review. Also you get mad props for figuring out what was with Zack from the beginning! **Shugoshin No Sora**! You seemed to get a kick out of most of the lines I hoped would be funny, so I am glad I could make you laugh! Thanks for reading this and I really appreciate it! **Stoic-Genius**! I am so happy that you are excited for my new fanfiction, I hope it lives up to your expectations! Thanks for the reviews. 

God there are so many more people that I could thank but I am running out of things to say, and you guys probably don't wanna read through all of that. But yes I want to thank **EVERYONE **who read this, reviewed, favorites, and watched this. It was my first fanfiction ever and I am so glad it was so popular! It's going to be weird not updating every Monday now! But I hope you all stick around to read 'Loyalties' when I start posting it. I plan on posting a chapter after I finish it like most authors do. With this one I wrote it all and then posted, but not with the next one. So the updates won't be every week! Sorry! But yes, **THANK YOU SO MUCH**, I love you all! I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! -hugs you all- 


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